Iowa High School Football

Ronan Thomas passed for two touchdowns and rushed for another in the second half, helping Class 4A No. 5 Xavier to a 22-20 victory over No. 3 Western Dubuque in a slobberknocker of a non-district prep football game Friday night at Saints Field.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy piled up 412 yards of total offense and held the Lions to 233 yards en route to a convincing 34-0 victory before a near-capacity crowd at Linn-Mar Stadium.

Marion put up 384 first-half yards and opened Marion Stadium with a 34-19 win over Center Point-Urbana.

Here’s a look at how all the teams ranked in The Gazette’s Iowa high school football poll fared in their Week 3 games.

A pair of top-five defenses lived up to their reputation. A couple of big breaks and a little versatility made the difference. Class 3A second-ranked Mount Vernon outlasted Benton Community in a battle of unbeatens, 19-7.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy beat Class 5A No. 4-ranked Linn-Mar 34-0 in an Iowa high school football game Friday night.

Follow The Gazette’s live blog for scores and updates from Week 3 of the Iowa high school football season Friday night.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy junior offensive lineman Nick Brooks announced Friday in a ceremony at the school that he will play college football at the University of Iowa. The 6-foot-8, 385-pounder picked the Hawkeyes over Florida State, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee.

A couple big results in Week 2 of the Iowa high school football season caused a bit of a rankings shake-up in this week’s Gazette poll. The Prep Football Huddle podcast breaks it all down.

An injury suffered late in the state semifinal victory relegated Mount Vernon quarterback Joey Rhomberg to a support role for the school’s 10th state finals appearance. Rhomberg has made a major impact to open his senior campaign for the 3A second-ranked Mustangs.

Take a peek at this week’s Iowa high school football schedule and you might think the postseason has already started. It’s a stacked slate across the state. Here’s who all 73 teams ranked in this week’s Gazette poll face.

A dozen of the top Gazette-area Iowa high school football games to watch in Week 3.

The Gazette Iowa high school sports staff answers questions about the winless teams and top defenses through Week 2, football in a small town vs. at big schools and the Netflix series “Quarterback” if focused at the high school level.

Last month, the Mason City School District banned 19 books. “Friday Night Lights” is back on the shelves, in no small part because Bissinger expressed his anger about it