Iowa high school football rankings: Xavier, West Lyon, St. Albert face top-10 challenges in Week 7

After two straight weeks of minimal movement in the Gazette/KGYM high school football poll, Week 7 features a number of top-10 clashes.

That includes stern district challenges awaiting three of the six top-ranked teams:

* Cedar Rapids Xavier (6-0), the top team in Class 3A, welcomes No. 6 Waverly-Shell Rock (6-0) to Saints Field.

* Class 1A No. 1 West Lyon (6-0) gets its shot at defending state champion Western Christian (5-1) at Inwood. The sixth-rated Wolfpack won the 1A title last year.

* Council Bluffs St. Albert (6-0) hosts No. 9 Southwest Valley (6-0) in a Class A showdown. Also in that class, No. 2 Gladbrook-Reinbeck (6-0) puts its 29-game winning streak on the line for a home date with No. 6 Hudson (6-0).

The top three teams are the same in each of the six classes as they were last week, and the week before that.

West Des Moines Dowling continues to lead Class 4A. The Maroons are followed by Iowa City West, West Des Moines Valley, Bettendorf and Waukee.

Xavier's prime challengers in 3A are Dallas Center-Grimes, Solon, Pella and Sergeant Bluff-Luton. Solon has allowed just 14 points in six weeks.

Williamsburg is one of just three remaining unbeatens in 2A and remains the top team in that class. Defending-champion Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley is next, followed by Mount Vernon, Cascade and Monroe PCM.

West Lyon maintains a slim one-point lead over Van Meter in 1A. Iowa City Regina is third, then it's Pella Christian and Pleasantville, who meet Friday in Pleasantville.

After St. Albert and Gladbrook-Reinbeck in Class A, it's West Sioux, Lynnville-Sully and Algona Garrigan.

Don Bosco, Audubon and Remsen St. Mary's are the top three teams in 8-Player. Newell-Fonda and Harris-Lake Park share the No. 4 slot, and meet this week at Newell.

Class 4A

1.

West Des Moines Dowling

6-0, 59 points (5 first-place votes)

6-0, 59 points (5 first-place votes)

Last week: No. 1; beat Des Moines Lincoln, 62-21

This week: at Council Bluffs Lincoln

 

2.

Iowa City West

6-0, 53 points (1 first-place vote)

6-0, 53 points (1 first-place vote)

Last week: No. 2; beat Burlington, 49-0

This week: vs. Cedar Rapids Kennedy

 

3.

West Des Moines Valley

5-1, 49 points

5-1, 49 points

Last week: No. 3; beat No. 8 Southeast Polk, 41-34 (2OT)

This week: vs. Indianola

 

4.

Bettendorf

5-1, 40 points

5-1, 40 points

Last week: No. 4; beat Clinton, 49-10 

This week: at Davenport North (Thursday)

 

5.

Waukee

4-2, 32 points

4-2, 32 points

Last week: No. 5; beat Sioux City East, 49-16 

This week: at Des Moines East

 

6.

Cedar Falls

5-1, 30 points

5-1, 30 points

Last week: No. 7; beat Cedar Rapids Washington, 35-6

This week: at Waterloo West

 

6.

Johnston

5-1, 30 points

5-1, 30 points

Last week: No. 5; beat Des Moines Roosevelt, 30-15

This week: vs. Sioux City North

 

8.

Pleasant Valley

5-1, 11 points

5-1, 11 points

Last week: No. 9; beat Davenport West, 62-7

This week: at North Scott

 

9.

Cedar Rapids Prairie

5-1, 8 points

5-1, 8 points

Last week: No. 10; beat Ottumwa, 56-7

This week: at Linn-Mar

 

10.

Southeast Polk

3-3, 5 points

3-3, 5 points

Last week: No. 8; lost to No. 3 West Des Moines Valley, 41-34 (2OT)

This week: vs. Newton

 

Dropped out: None

Others receiving votes: Newton 4, Cedar Rapids Kennedy 3, Lewis Central 3, Ankeny Centennial 2, North Scott 1

Class 3A

1.

Cedar Rapids Xavier

6-0, 55 points (4 first-place votes)

6-0, 55 points (4 first-place votes)

Last week: No. 1; beat Independence, 37-0

This week: vs. No. 6 Waverly-Shell Rock

 

2.

Dallas Center-Grimes

6-0, 53 points (1 first-place vote)

6-0, 53 points (1 first-place vote)

Last week: No. 2; beat No. 6 Webster City, 20-0

This week: at Iowa Falls-Alden

 

3.

Solon

6-0, 47 points

6-0, 47 points

Last week: No. 3; beat Fort Madison, 62-0

This week: at Mount Pleasant

 

4.

Pella

5-1, 45 points

5-1, 45 points

Last week: No. 4; beat Knoxville, 34-10

This week: vs. No. 10 Norwalk

 

5.

Sergeant Bluff-Luton

6-0, 36 points (1 first-place vote)

6-0, 36 points (1 first-place vote)

Last week: No. 5; beat Algona, 36-7

This week: vs. Humboldt

 

6.

Waverly-Shell Rock

6-0, 23 points

6-0, 23 points

Last week: No. 9; beat Decorah, 17-7

This week: at No. 1 Cedar Rapids Xavier

 

7.

Harlan

5-1, 19 points

5-1, 19 points

Last week: No. 8; beat Carroll, 40-0

This week: at Winterset

 

8.

West Delaware

5-1, 14 points

5-1, 14 points

Last week: No. 10; beat Clear Creek Amana, 35-6

This week: vs. Dubuque Wahlert

 

9.

Boone

6-0, 11 points

6-0, 11 points

Last week: NR; beat Greene County, 52-7

This week: vs. Ballard

 

10.

Norwalk

5-1, 10 points

5-1, 10 points

Last week: NR; beat Grinnell, 49-0

This week: at No. 4 Pella

 

10.

Webster City

5-1, 10 points

5-1, 10 points

Last week: No. 6; lost to No. 2 Dallas Center-Grimes, 20-0

This week: at Perry

 

Dropped out: Sioux City Heelan (6)

Others receiving votes: Glenwood 3, Storm Lake 3, Carlisle 1

Class 2A

1.

Williamsburg

6-0, 56 points (3 first-place votes)

6-0, 56 points (3 first-place votes)

Last week: No. 1; beat Mid-Prairie, 49-13

This week: vs. West Liberty

 

2.

Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley

5-1, 52 points (2 first-place votes)

5-1, 52 points (2 first-place votes)

Last week: No. 2; beat Cherokee, 55-6

This week: vs. MOC-Floyd Valley

 

3.

Mount Vernon

5-1, 45 points (1 first-place vote)

5-1, 45 points (1 first-place vote)

Last week: No. 3; beat Anamosa, 49-0

This week: vs. Mediapolis

 

4.

Cascade

6-0, 41 points

6-0, 41 points

Last week: No. 4; beat Oelwein, 59-14

This week: vs. Dyersville Beckman

 

5.

Monroe PCM

5-1, 38 points

5-1, 38 points

Last week: No. 5; beat Chariton, 42-14

This week: vs. Eddyville EBF

 

6.

Waukon

5-1, 30 points

5-1, 30 points

Last week: No. 6; beat Monticello, 51-27

This week: at No. 8 Union Community

 

7.

Sioux Center

6-0, 26 points

6-0, 26 points

Last week: No. 7; beat MOC-Floyd Valley, 21-13

This week: vs. Sheldon

 

8.

Union Community

5-1, 21 points

5-1, 21 points

Last week: No. 8; beat Waterloo Columbus, 48-7

This week: vs. No. 6 Waukon

 

9.

Clear Lake

5-1, 10 points

5-1, 10 points

Last week: No. 10; beat Hampton-Dumont, 51-12

This week: vs. Clarion CGD/CAL

 

9.

South Central Calhoun

5-1, 10 points

5-1, 10 points

Last week: NR; beat No. 9 Carroll Kuemper, 26-16

This week: at Underwood

 

Dropped out: Carroll Kuemper (9)

Others receiving votes: Sheldon 1

Class 1A

1.

West Lyon

6-0, 55 points (4 first-place votes)

6-0, 55 points (4 first-place votes)

Last week: No. 1; beat Hinton, 35-0

This week: vs. No. 6 Western Christian

 

2.

Van Meter

6-0, 54 points (1 first-place vote)

6-0, 54 points (1 first-place vote)

Last week: No. 2; beat Manson Northwest Webster, 56-0

This week: at West Central Valley

 

3.

Iowa City Regina

4-2, 45 points

4-2, 45 points

Last week: No. 3; beat No. 10 Wilton, 49-7

This week: vs. Van Buren

 

4.

Pella Christian

6-0, 43 points (1 first-place vote)

6-0, 43 points (1 first-place vote)

Last week: No. 4; beat Woodward Academy, 62-21

This week: at No. 5 Pleasantville

 

5.

Pleasantville

6-0, 33 points

6-0, 33 points

Last week: No. 5; beat Mount Ayr, 33-20

This week: vs. No. 4 Pella Christian

 

6.

Western Christian

5-1, 31 points

5-1, 31 points

Last week: No. 6; beat Okoboji, 42-6

This week: at No. 1 West Lyon

 

7.

Avoca AHSTW

6-0, 27 points

6-0, 27 points

Last week: No. 8; beat IKM-Manning, 41-7

This week: at Ida Grove OA-BCIG

 

8.

West Branch

6-0, 20 points

6-0, 20 points

Last week: No. 7; beat Durant, 24-23

This week: at North Cedar

 

9.

Denver

5-1, 13 points

5-1, 13 points

Last week: No. 9; beat Sumner-Fredericksburg, 48-0

This week: vs. MFL MarMac

 

10.

Bellevue

5-1, 8 points

5-1, 8 points

Last week: NR; beat Tipton, 42-0

This week: at Clayton Ridge

 

Dropped out: Wilton (10)

Others receiving votes: Wilton 1

Class A

1.

Council Bluffs St. Albert

6-0, 56 points (4 first-place votes)

6-0, 56 points (4 first-place votes)

Last week: No. 1; beat Martensdale-St. Marys, 56-0

This week: vs. No. 9 Southwest Valley

 

2.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck

6-0, 53 points (2 first-place votes)

6-0, 53 points (2 first-place votes)

Last week: No. 2; beat Grand View Christian, 55-13

This week: vs. No. 6 Hudson

 

3.

West Sioux

6-0, 46 points

6-0, 46 points

Last week: No. 3; beat No. 9 LeMars Gehlen, 49-0

This week: vs. Maple Valley-Anthon-Oto

 

4.

Lynnville-Sully

6-0, 35 points

6-0, 35 points

Last week: No. 4; beat No. 10 Pekin, 35-7

This week: at New London

 

5.

Algona Garrigan

6-0, 31 points

6-0, 31 points

Last week: No. 5; beat South O'Brien, 35-0

This week: vs. Ridge View

 

6.

Hudson

6-0, 28 points

6-0, 28 points

Last week: No. 5; beat BGM, 21-14

This week: at No. 2 Gladbrook-Reinbeck

 

7.

Saint Ansgar

6-0, 27 points

6-0, 27 points

Last week: No. 7; beat Grundy Center, 42-21

This week: vs. Mason City Newman

 

7.

Wapsie Valley

6-0, 27 points

6-0, 27 points

Last week: No. 7; beat Lisbon, 38-22

This week: vs. Starmont

 

9.

Southwest Valley

6-0, 12 points

6-0, 12 points

Last week: NR; beat Nodaway Valley, 49-7

This week: at No. 1 Council Bluffs St. Albert

 

10.

East Buchanan

5-1, 9 points

5-1, 9 points

Last week: NR; beat Postville, 70-15

This week: vs. Alburnett

 

Dropped out: LeMars Gehlen (9), Pekin (10)

Others receiving votes: New London 4, Alburnett 1, Pekin 1

8-Player

1.

Don Bosco

6-0, 58 points (4 first-place votes)

6-0, 58 points (4 first-place votes)

Last week: No. 1; beat Lansing Kee, 60-14

This week: vs. West Central

 

2.

Audubon

6-0, 54 points (1 first-place vote)

6-0, 54 points (1 first-place vote)

Last week: No. 2; beat Boyer Valley, 69-14

This week: at Glidden-Ralston

 

3.

Remsen St. Mary's

6-0, 48 points (1 first-place vote)

6-0, 48 points (1 first-place vote)

Last week: No. 3; beat No. 6 Ruthven GTRA, 27-24

This week: at Kingsley-Pierson

 

4.

Harris-Lake Park

4-1, 36 points

4-1, 36 points

Last week: No. 5; beat West Bend-Mallard, 36-26

This week: at No. 4 Newell-Fonda

 

4.

Newell-Fonda

5-1, 36 points

5-1, 36 points

Last week: No. 4; beat Clay Central-Everly, 66-6

This week: vs. No. 4 Harris-Lake Park

 

6.

Sidney

6-0, 22 points

6-0, 22 points

Last week: No. 7; beat East Mills, 56-12

This week: at Woodbine

 

7.

Tripoli

6-0, 20 points

6-0, 20 points

Last week: No. 8; beat Central City, 57-20

This week: vs. North Iowa

 

8.

Stanton

6-1, 16 points

6-1, 16 points

Last week: No. 8; beat East Union, 56-30

This week: at Lenox

 

9.

Ruthven GTRA

3-2, 14 points

3-2, 14 points

Last week: No. 6; lost to No. 3 Remsen St. Mary's, 27-24

This week: vs. Clay Central-Everly

 

10.

Ar-We-Va

6-1, 9 points

6-1, 9 points

Last week: No. 10; beat River Valley, 47-12

This week: at Boyer Valley

 

Dropped out: None

Others receiving votes: Colo-Nesco 5, Riceville 5, Baxter 4, Lone Tree 1