Kennedy climbs into the 4A top 5

Cedar Rapids Kennedy's ascent has reached the top five in Class 4A.

The Cougars (3-0) climbed to No. 5 in this week's Gazette/KCRG/KGYM poll, released Monday afternoon. Kennedy handled North Scott, 42-0, Friday at Kingston Stadium.

Kennedy has matched last year's victory total. The Cougars were 3-8 in 2014.

West Des Moines Valley remains No. 1. The Tigers (3-0) meet No. 3 West Des Moines Dowling (2-0) this week. Valley earned seven of eight first-place votes; No. 2 Bettendorf (3-0) received the other.

Cedar Falls is No. 4. Cedar Rapids Washington is up three notches to No. 7.

Pella and Iowa City Regina remained unanimous No. 1 selections in Class 3A and Class 1A, respectively. Regina has won five consecutive state championships and 72 of its last 73 games.

West Delaware and Cedar Rapids Xavier are Pella's top two challengers in the 3A poll. West Delaware is scoring at a 47.3-point clip; Xavier rallied from a 12-point deficit Friday to defeat Solon, 22-19.

Spirit Lake is a slim leader over Albia in Class 2A. Last week, the Indians and the Blue Demons were co-No. 1s.

Both enjoyed convincing wins in Week 3: Spirit Lake drubbed Central Lyon/George-Little Rock, 42-8, while Albia whipped Pella Christian, 62-21.

South Tama is No. 3 and leads a list of five Gazette-area teams in the 2A top 10. Anamosa, Waukon, North Fayette Valley and Dyersville Beckman are fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth.

West Branch remains No. 3 in Class 1A.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck reclaims the top spot in Class A after dropping to No. 2 last week. The Rebels throttled Conrad BCLUW, 64-0, while Denver fell out of the top spot after losing, 42-7, to 1A No. 2 Dike-New Hartford. BGM climbs to No. 2.

Newell-Fonda remains the pace-setter in the 8-Player class. Four points separate Nos. 2-5, with Fremont-Mills leading that pack.

GAZETTE/KCRG/KGYM FOOTBALL POLL

(First-place votes in parentheses)

CLASS 4A

Rank

Team

W-L

Points

Previous

1.

West Des Moines Valley (7)

3-0

79

1

2.

Bettendorf (1)

3-0

67

3

3.

West Des Moines Dowling

2-0

66

2

4.

Cedar Falls

3-0

55

5

5.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy

3-0

48

6

6.

Johnston

3-0

35

8

7.

Cedar Rapids Washington

2-1

29

10

8.

Fort Dodge

3-0

26

NR

9.

Ankeny

2-1

15

NR

10.

Pleasant Valley

2-1

7

NR

Dropped out: Ankeny Centennial (4), Lewis Central (7), Waukee (9)Others receiving votes: Muscatine 6, Ankeny Centennial 4, Waukee 2, Lewis Central 1

CLASS 3A

Rank

Team

W-L

Points

Previous

1.

Pella (8)

3-0

80

1

2.

West Delaware

3-0

67

2

3.

Cedar Rapids Xavier

2-0

60

3

4.

Sioux City Heelan

3-0

58

4

5.

Webster City

3-0

38

5

6.

Dallas Center-Grimes

2-1

37

5

T-7.

Harlan

3-0

33

9

T-7.

Norwalk

3-0

33

8

9.

Independence

3-0

17

NR

10.

Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley

3-0

8

NR

Dropped out: Waverly-Shell Rock (5), Solon (10)

Others receiving votes: Waverly-Shell Rock 6, Solon 3

CLASS 2A

Rank

Team

W-L

Points

Previous

1.

Spirit Lake (3)

3-0

74

1

2.

Albia (4)

3-0

68

1

3.

South Tama (1)

3-0

62

3

4.

Baxter CMB

3-0

46

5

5.

Anamosa

3-0

44

6

6.

Waukon

3-0

42

7

7.

North Fayette Valley

2-1

30

8

8.

Dyersville Beckman

2-1

17

10

9.

Central Lyon/George-Little Rock

1-2

13

4

10.

Garner-Hayfield/Ventura

3-0

12

NR

Dropped out: Center Point-Urbana (9)Others receiving votes: Williamsburg 10, Mid-Prairie 6, Cherokee 5, Central Lee 4, Osage 4, West Burlington-Notre Dame 2, New Hampton 1

CLASS 1A

Rank

Team

W-L

Points

Previous

1.

Iowa City Regina (8)

3-0

80

1

2.

Dike-New Hartford

3-0

68

2

3.

West Branch

3-0

64

3

4.

Hinton

3-0

55

4

5.

Madrid

3-0

42

6

6.

Panorama

3-0

32

7

7.

South Winneshiek

2-1

25

9

T-8.

Underwood

3-0

19

10

T-8.

West Lyon

2-1

19

7

10.

Pella Christian

2-1

12

5

Others receiving votes: IKM-Manning 9, Avoca AHSTW 7, Hudson 6, Alburnett 1, Van Meter 1

CLASS A

Rank

Team

W-L

Points

Previous

1.

Gladbrook-Reinbeck (5)

2-1

69

2

2.

BGM (2)

3-0

67

3

3.

Belmond-Klemme

3-0

55

4

4.

Audubon

3-0

54

5

5.

Montezuma (1)

3-0

42

6

6.

Algona Garrigan

3-0

29

8

7.

Bedford

3-0

26

8

8.

Denver

2-1

23

1

9.

Logan-Magnolia

2-1

22

10

10.

South O'Brien

3-0

21

7

Others receiving votes: West Sioux 16, Pleasantville 9, Belle Plaine 4, Pekin 2, Winfield-Mount Union 1

8-PLAYER

Rank

Team

W-L

Points

Previous

1.

Newell-Fonda (6)

3-0

74

1

2.

Fremont-Mills (1)

3-0

58

3

3.

Don Bosco

1-0

57

3

4.

Glidden-Ralston (1)

3-0

56

2

5.

Marcus MMC

3-0

55

5

6.

HLV

4-0

44

6

7.

Janesville

3-0

37

7

8.

Elkader Central

3-0

19

9

9.

Coon Rapids-Bayard

2-1

13

10

10.

Colo-Nesco

4-0

11

NR

Dropped out: Ruthven GTRA (8)

Others receiving votes: Ruthven GTRA 6, Lenox 5, Ar-We-Va 3, Northwood-Kensett 2

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com