Iowa High School Football Rankings: The Gazette Poll After Week 4 in 2024

After four weeks of chaos, it appears stability is finally coming to the top of The Gazette’s rankings for Class 5A football.

West Des Moines Valley is back in first place, marking the fourth straight week of changes at the top of the big school’s class.

Valley received two first-place votes from The Gazette panel, while West Des Moines Dowling received four, but the Tigers defeated the Maroons 56-55 in the polls.

The most recent changes came following former No. 1 Ankeny Centennial’s loss to Southeast Polk, plus the Valley’s win over then-No. 2 Waukee.

For those keeping track, Ankeny was the No. 1 seed in the 5A preseason, followed by Valley after Week 1, Dowling after Week 2 and Centennial after Week 3.

Valley and Dowling are both heavy favorites to win this week, as are new No. 3 Bettendorf (the only undefeated in the top 10) and No. 4 Pleasant Valley. Fifth-ranked Waukee is scheduled for a home game in Johnston.

There is also a change at the top in Class A, thanks to Le Mars Gehlen’s surprising 22-21 victory over former number 1 Woodbury Central.

Guthrie Center ACGC is the new top team in A, ahead of West Hancock in first-place votes (4-2) and polls (58-56). The Chargers defeated South Central Calhoun 28-14 last week.

West Hancock defeated North Union 46-7 for its 15th consecutive victory. The Eagles won the Class A state title last year.

Saint Ansgar, Madrid and Lisbon all rose one spot to complete the top five; Woodbury Central dropped to number 6, one spot above Gehlen.

Defending 4A champion Lewis Central remains the unanimous No. 1 in that class after beating Bondurant-Farrar, 24-14, for its 13th straight victory. Pella moved up one spot to No. 2; the Dutch defeated Cedar Rapids Xavier, 21-19.

North Polk, Gilbert and Indianola round out the 4A top five.

A 7-6 win over archrival Mount Vernon allowed Solon to retain the No. 1 ranking in 3A. Algona moves up one spot to second, followed by Williamsburg and Dubuque Wahlert at 3 and 4, with Mount Vernon and up-and-coming Sergeant Bluff-Luton tied for fifth.

There is no change in the top five of 2A (West Lyon, Monroe PCM, Spirit Lake, Van Meter and Central Lyon-GLR) and little movement in 1A.

Grundy Center extended its winning streak to 30, 42-6 over previously undefeated East Marshall. The Spartans were Class A champions in 2022, 1A champions in 2023 and have outscored their first four opponents, 146-27.

Wilton remains at No. 2; Dike-New Hartford passed Emmetsburg for third place, and South Hardin is in fifth place.

Remsen St. Mary’s, Algona Garrigan, Audubon, Don Bosco and Lenox are the top five teams in 8-Player.

The Gazette’s Football Poll After Week 4

(First place votes in brackets)

CLASS 5A WL Pts. Pvs

1. West Des Moines Valley (2) 3-1 56 3

2. West Des Moines Dowling (4) 3-1 55 4

3. Bettendorf 4-0 44 5

4. Pleasant Valley 3-1 39 8

5.Waukee 3-1 36 2

6. Ankeny Centennial 3-1 35 1

7. Southeast Polk 2-2 24 —

8. Iowa City Liberty 3-1 15 —

9. Linn-Mar 3-1 14 6

10. Cedar Falls 2-2 5 7

Dropped: Ankeny (9), Cedar Rapids Prairie (10).

Others who received votes: Sioux City East 4, Johnston 2, Cedar Rapids Prairie 1.

CLASS 4A WL Pts. Pvs

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

2. Pella 4-0 50 3

3. North Polk 4-0 48 4

4.Gilbert 4-0 36 5

5.Indianola 3-1 29 7

6. Decorah4-0 28 6

7. West Dubuque 3-1 27 8

8. North Scott 3-1 22 2

9. Adel ADM 3-1 19 8

10. Cedar Rapids Xavier 2-1 6 10

Others who received votes: Newton 5.

CLASS 3A WL Pts. Pvs

1. Solon (5) 4-0 58 1

2. Algona (1) 4-0 50 3

3. Williamsburg 3-1 48 2

4. Dubuque Wahlert 4-0 37 7

T-5. Mount Vernon 3-1 36 3

T-5. Sergeant Bluff-Luton 4-0 36 9

7. Grinnell 4-0 21 10

8. Independence 3-1 18 6

9. Clear Lake 3-1 16 5

10. Humboldt 3-1 6 8

Dropped: Harlan (10).

Others who received votes: Nevada 2, Sioux City Heelan 1, Western Delaware 1.

CLASS 2A WL Pts. Pvs

1. West Lyon (4) 4-0 58 1

2. Monroe PCM (1) 4-0 53 2

3. Geestmeer (1) 3-1 51 3

4. Van meter 3-1 38 4

5. Central Lyon-GLR 3-1 35 5

6. Carroll Kuemper 3-1 32 6

7. Northeast 4-0 15 8

T-8. Anamosa 4-0 14 9

T-8. Western Christian 3-1 14 —

10. North Fayette Valley 3-1 10 —

Others who received votes: Roland Story 5, Cherokee 4, Des Moines Christian 1.

CLASS 1A WL Pts. Pvs

1. Grundy Centrum (5) 4-0 58 1

2. Wilton (1) 4-0 50 2

3. Dike-New Hartford 3-1 44 4

4. Emmetsburg 4-0 42 3

5. South Hardin 4-0 33 5

6. Iowa City Regina 4-0 31 7

7. Ida Grove OABCIG 3-1 29 8

8. Avoca AHSTW 3-1 25 9

9. Hudson 4-0 9 —

10. Mountain ridge view 3-1 4 —

Dropped: Hinton (5), Underwood (10).

Others who received votes: Sigourney-Keota 3, MFL MarMac 2.

CLASS A WL Pts. Pvs

1. Guthrie Center ACGC (4) 4-0 58 2

2. West Hancock (2) 4-0 56 3

3. Saint Ansgar 3-1 38 4

4. Madrid 3-1 33 5

5. Lisbon 4-0 29 6

6. Woodbury Central 3-1 24 1

7. The Mars Gehlen 3-1 22 —

T-8.Earlham 3-1 21 7

T-8. Three-Center 3-1 21 8

10. North Linn 4-0 12 9

Dropped: Nashua-Plainfield (10), Beijing (10).

Others who received votes: Beijing 9, Nashua-Plainfield 6, Mount Ayr 1.

8-PLAYER WL Pts. Pvs

1. Remsen St. Mary’s (4) 4-0 55 1

2. Algona Garrigan (2) 4-0 48 2

3. Audubon 4-0 44 3

4. Don Bosco 4-0 40 5

5. Lenox 4-0 39 3

6. Iowa Valley 5-0 27 6

7. Anita CAM 3-1 25 7

8. Gladbrook-Reinbeck 3-1 20 8

9.Bedford 3-1 16 9

10. Houtbine 4-0 9 —

Dropped: Lansing Kee (10).

Others who received votes: Belle Plaine 4, Southeast Warren 2, Janesville 1.

Comments: [email protected]