Iowa high school football rankings: West Hancock, Remsen St. Mary’s complete wire-to-wire No. 1 runs in Gazette poll

They were No. 1 in the preseason.

And now, West Hancock and Remsen St. Mary’s have the same tag as they enter the postseason.

Defending Class A state champion West Hancock takes a 21-game winning streak into the playoffs, which begin Friday. The Eagles (8-0) begin their title defense against Nashua-Plainfield (5-3), at Britt.

St. Mary’s takes it a bit further. The Hawks (8-0) have been a unanimous No. 1 pick in 8-Player from wire to wire. They’ll open postseason action Friday at home against Audubon (4-5).

Central Lyon/George-Little Rock (2A) and Van Meter (1A) also end their regular season at No. 1.

Ankeny (5A), Lewis Central (4A) and Harlan (3A) remain on top of their respective classes with one week left in the regular season.

The top four teams in 5A — Ankeny, West Des Moines Dowling, Pleasant Valley and Southeast Polk — haven’t budged for four weeks, and a gulf between those four and the rest of the 5A field seems to have widened.

The three central Iowa teams split an early-season round-robin among each other, and Pleasant Valley — the only big-class unbeaten — leads 5A in both scoring offense (41.9 points per game) and defense (9.5).

Cedar Falls remains at No. 5 this week; Cedar Rapids Prairie is up four spots to No. 6.

Like St. Mary’s, Lewis Central has been a unanimous No. 1 pick by The Gazette staff. The Titans conclude regular-season play this week at home against Winterset.

Unbeatens Waverly-Shell Rock and Cedar Rapids Xavier are second and third, followed by Carlisle and Bondurant-Farrar.

Harlan has rattled off seven straight wins since an opening loss to Lewis Central, and is unanimously on top of 3A. The last remaining unbeaten in the class, Mount Vernon continues its steady climb to No. 2, and Nevada is up three spots to No. 3 after knocking off previously unbeaten Humboldt.

Adel ADM and Independence round out the top five.

Changes were minimal in 2A this week, with the top eight remaining the same. Central Lyon-GLR is followed by Williamsburg, Spirit Lake, West Marshall and Ida Grove OABCIG.

Van Meter (53 poll points) concludes the season with a slight edge over the next three 1A teams — West Sioux (52), West Branch (49) and Underwood (47). All four are unbeaten.

The top five in Class A are unbeaten. West Hancock is followed by Grundy Center, Lynnville-Sully, Woodbury Central and Avoca AHSTW.

Five teams finished unblemished in 8-Player — St. Mary’s, No. 2 WACO, No. 3 Don Bosco, No. 4 Lenox and No. 7 West Harrison.

Easton Valley and Gladbrook-Reinbeck, both of which suffered close losses to Don Bosco, are fifth and sixth.

The Gazette high school football poll, post-Week 8

(First-place votes in parentheses)

CLASS 5A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Ankeny (2) 7-1 54 1

2. West Des Moines Dowling (2) 7-1 53 2

3. Pleasant Valley (2) 8-0 50 3

4. Southeast Polk 7-1 47 4

5. Cedar Falls 6-2 28 5

6. Cedar Rapids Prairie 6-2 22 10

7. Johnston 5-3 15 —

(tie) Waukee Northwest 4-4 15 8

9. Iowa City High 5-3 10 —

(tie) Linn-Mar 5-3 10 —

(tie) West Des Moines Valley 4-4 10 9

Dropped out: Cedar Rapids Kennedy (6), Urbandale (6).

Others receiving votes: Cedar Rapids Kennedy 5, Sioux City East 5, Ankeny Centennial 4, Urbandale 2.

CLASS 4A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Lewis Central (6) 8-0 60 1

2. Waverly-Shell Rock 8-0 52 2

3. Cedar Rapids Xavier 8-0 50 3

4. Carlisle 7-1 41 4

5. Bondurant-Farrar 7-1 34 6

6. Iowa City Liberty 7-1 33 5

7. North Scott 6-2 22 7

8. Indianola 5-3 14 7

9. Norwalk 5-3 9 9

10. Cedar Rapids Washington 5-3 8 —

Dropped out: Spencer (10).

Others receiving votes: Webster City 3, Western Dubuque 3, Glenwood 1.

CLASS 3A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Harlan (6) 7-1 60 1

2. Mount Vernon 8-0 54 3

3. Nevada 7-1 43 6

4. Adel ADM 7-1 37 4

5. Independence 8-1 34 5

6. Solon 6-2 31 7

7. Humboldt 7-1 30 2

8. North Polk 6-2 22 8

9. MOC-Floyd Valley 6-2 9 10

10. Benton Community 6-2 5 —

Dropped out: Creston (9).

Others receiving votes: Creston 4, West Delaware 1.

CLASS 2A (Final) W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Central Lyon-GLR (5) 8-0 59 1

2. Williamsburg (1) 8-0 54 2

3. Spirit Lake 8-0 48 3

4. West Marshall 8-0 40 4

5. Ida Grove OABCIG 7-1 39 5

6. Greene County 7-1 26 6

7. West Lyon 6-2 22 6

8. Osage 6-2 18 8

9. Monticello 6-2 15 10

10. Waukon 5-3 4 —

Dropped out: New Hampton (9).

Others receiving votes: Dubuque Wahlert 3, Crestwood 2.

CLASS 1A (Final) W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Van Meter (2) 7-1 53 1

2. West Sioux (1) 7-1 52 2

3. West Branch (2) 8-0 49 3

4. Underwood (1) 8-0 47 4

5. Aplington-Parkersburg 7-1 32 6

6. Carroll Kuemper 7-1 28 5

7. Pella Christian 7-1 19 7

8. MFL MarMac 7-1 13 8

9. Mediapolis 7-1 12 10

10. Dike-New Hartford 6-2 8 8

Dropped out: None.

Others receiving votes: Sigourney-Keota 7, South Hamilton 6, Western Christian 6, Denver 1.

CLASS A (Final) W-L Pts. Pvs

1. West Hancock (4) 8-0 57 1

2. Grundy Center 8-0 49 2

3. Lynnville-Sully (1) 8-0 47 3

4. Woodbury Central (1) 8-0 46 4

5. Avoca AHSTW 8-0 39 5

6. North Linn 7-1 24 6

7. Hartley HMS 6-2 17 7

8. East Buchanan 7-1 16 8

9. Le Mars Gehlen 7-1 15 9

10. Alburnett 7-1 11 10

Dropped out: None.

Others receiving votes: Wapsie Valley 6, Columbus Community 2, Mount Ayr 1.

8-PLAYER (Final) W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Remsen St. Mary’s (6) 8-0 60 1

2. WACO 9-0 50 2

3. Don Bosco 7-0 48 3

4. Lenox 8-0 41 4

5. Easton Valley 6-1 36 5

6. Gladbrook-Reinbeck 7-1 26 6

7. West Harrison 8-0 24 7

8. Newell-Fonda 7-1 19 8

9. Southeast Warren 8-1 16 10

10. Ruthven GTRA 7-1 5 —

Dropped out: Fremont-Mills (9).

Others receiving votes: Central City 2, Anita CAM 1, Fremont-Mills 1, Montezuma 1.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com