Iowa high school football rankings: The Gazette’s post-Week 4 poll

As it turned out, Ankeny’s drop from the top spot in the Class 5A football rankings lasted only one week.

The Hawks returned to No. 1 in the big-school class of this week’s Gazette Iowa high school football poll after handling last week’s top team, Southeast Polk, by a 31-14 verdict.

Ankeny, No. 2 West Des Moines Dowling and No. 4 Southeast Polk have split a three-way round-robin among each other, and all are 3-1. Ankeny, Dowling and Pleasant Valley (4-0) split the six first-place votes evenly.

In terms of poll points, Ankeny received 54 this week, one more than Dowling and four more than Pleasant Valley.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy remains steady at No. 5.

Class 1A is the other class that experienced movement at the top. Pella Christian becomes the third No. 1 team in three weeks, supplanting Dyersville Beckman after a 14-13 loss to Cascade forced the Blazers all the way out of the top 10.

Pella Christian earned just one first-place vote, but tallied 49 poll points, compared to 46 for No. 2 Van Meter and 42 for No. 3 West Sioux.

Van Meter led two ballots, No. 4 Underwood one and co-No. 5 West Branch one. The Bears share the fifth spot with Aplington-Parkersburg.

The other top-ranked teams remain the same — Lewis Central (4A), Harlan (3A), Central Lyon/George-Little Rock (2A), West Hancock (Class A) and Remsen St. Mary’s (8-Player).

All four of Lewis Central’s wins have come against top-10 teams, including 34-16 over Indianola last week, and the Titans remain a unanimous pick in 4A. Waverly-Shell Rock is second; Cedar Rapids Xavier and Bondurant-Farrar share the No. 3 spot.

Harlan has won three straight after its season-opening loss to Lewis Central, and remains a comfortable No. 1 in 3A. Humboldt is second, followed by Adel ADM, Mount Vernon and North Polk.

Central Lyon-GLR maintains a small lead over Ida Grove OABCIG in 2A: 56-54 in poll points, 4-2 in first-place votes. OABCIG faces a stiff test this week, at No. 5 Spirit Lake.

Williamsburg and West Marshall are third and fourth.

The top five from last week are intact in Class A. Unbeatens West Hancock, Woodbury Central, Grundy Center and Lynnville-Sully maintain the top four spots, then Hartley HMS (3-1) is fifth.

Remsen St. Mary’s, WACO, Don Bosco, Newell-Fonda and Lenox are the 8-Player leaders.

The Gazette high school football poll, post-Week 4

(First-place votes in parentheses)

CLASS 5A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Ankeny (2) 3-1 54 4

2. West Des Moines Dowling (2) 3-1 53 2

3. Pleasant Valley (2) 4-0 50 3

4. Southeast Polk 3-1 45 1

5. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 4-0 37 5

6. Urbandale 3-1 23 10

7. Sioux City East 4-0 22 8

8. Cedar Rapids Prairie 3-1 16 8

9. Ankeny Centennial 2-2 10 —

(tie) West Des Moines Valley 2-2 10 —

Dropped out: Iowa City High (6), Johnston (6).

Others receiving votes: Iowa City West 9, Linn-Mar 1.

CLASS 4A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Lewis Central (6) 4-0 60 1

2. Waverly-Shell Rock 4-0 50 2

3. Bondurant-Farrar 4-0 47 5

(tie) Cedar Rapids Xavier 4-0 47 3

5. Carlisle 3-1 27 7

(tie) Indianola 3-1 27 3

7. Norwalk 3-1 24 7

8. North Scott 3-1 18 6

9. Iowa City Liberty 3-1 12 10

10. Newton 3-0 9 10

Dropped out: Cedar Rapids Washington (9).

Others receiving votes: Cedar Rapids Washington 7, Fort Madison 2.

CLASS 3A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Harlan (5) 3-1 59 1

2. Humboldt (1) 4-0 54 2

3. Adel ADM 4-0 49 3

4. Mount Vernon 4-0 39 4

5. North Polk 3-1 34 5

6. Creston 4-0 23 6

7. Independence 4-1 21 8

(tie) Nevada 3-1 21 —

9. Solon2-2 15 —

10. MOC-Floyd Valley 3-1 6 —

Dropped out: Algona (7), DeWitt Central (8), Hampton-Dumont/CAL (10).

Others receiving votes: Carroll 3, DeWitt Central 3, Hampton-Dumont/CAL 2, Benton Community 1.

CLASS 2A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Central Lyon-GLR (4) 4-0 56 1

2. Ida Grove OABCIG (2) 4-0 54 2

3. Williamsburg 4-0 49 3

4. West Marshall 4-0 41 4

5. Spirit Lake 4-0 37 5

6. New Hampton 4-0 32 6

7. Dubuque Wahlert 3-1 23 8

8. Red Oak 4-0 18 —

9. Crestwood 3-1 11 —

10. West Lyon 2-2 3 —

Dropped out: North Fayette Valley (7), Clarion CGD (9), Southeast Valley (10).

Others receiving votes: Pocahontas Area 2, Greene County 1, North Fayette Valley 1, Southeast Valley 1.

CLASS 1A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Pella Christian (1) 4-0 49 2

2. Van Meter (2) 3-1 46 4

3. West Sioux 3-1 42 2

4. Underwood (1) 4-0 39 6

5. Aplington-Parkersburg 4-0 36 7

(tie) West Branch (2) 4-0 36 5

7. Dike-New Hartford 3-1 25 8

8. Carroll Kuemper 4-0 17 9

(tie) Durant 4-0 17 10

10. Mediapolis 4-0 9 —

Dropped out: Dyersville Beckman (1).

Others receiving votes: Cascade 6, Dyersville Beckman 5, Western Christian 3.

CLASS A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. West Hancock (4) 4-0 57 1

2. Woodbury Central (1) 4-0 49 2

3. Grundy Center 4-0 48 2

4. Lynnville-Sully (1) 4-0 46 4

5. Hartley HMS 3-1 35 5

6. Avoca AHSTW 4-0 34 8

7. North Linn 3-1 17 10

8. Le Mars Gehlen 3-1 14 9

9. East Buchanan 3-1 11 —

10. Wapsie Valley 2-2 6 —

Dropped out: Mount Ayr (6), Alburnett (7).

Others receiving votes: Alburnett 5, North Tama 5, Columbus Community 2, Mount Ayr 1.

8-PLAYER W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Remsen St. Mary’s (6) 4-0 60 1

2. WACO 5-0 46 2

3. Don Bosco 4-0 45 2

4. Newell-Fonda 4-0 40 4

5. Lenox 4-0 37 5

6. Easton Valley 3-1 34 6

7. Gladbrook-Reinbeck 4-0 25 7

8. Ruthven GTRA 4-0 15 8

9. West Harrison 4-0 11 9

10. West Bend-Mallard 3-1 6 10

Dropped out: None.

Others receiving votes: Baxter 3, Fremont-Mills 3, Montezuma 2, Southeast Warren 2, BGM 1.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com