Iowa high school football 2025: The Gazette’s post-Week 3 poll

One has the more decisive victories. The other has the better strength of schedule.

So who’s No. 1?

Both.

Clear Lake and Solon share the top spot in The Gazette’s post-Week 3 Class 3A football rankings, released Monday.

Both teams are 3-0.

Ranked No. 4 last week, Solon staked its claim to the top by knocking off previous No. 1 Mount Vernon, 35-20, last week at home. The Spartans also have decisive victories over Davenport Assumption and Williamsburg on their resume.

Speaking of decisive, consider Clear Lake.

The Lions have trounced their first three opponents (Forest City, Humboldt and Webster City) by a combined margin of 139-14. The meat of their schedule has arrived, with road tests the next two weeks against Nevada and Independence (currently ranked No. 6 and No. 7).

Both contenders are No. 1 on three ballots, No. 2 on two and No. 3 on one, with both earning 56 poll points.

Last week’s No. 2 team, Sioux City Heelan, dropped a spot to third after absorbing a 42-41 double-overtime loss to Sioux City East. Mount Vernon slid to fourth.

The leaders in the other six classes remain the same — Waukee Northwest (5A), Cedar Rapids Xavier (4A), Carroll Kuemper (2A), Grundy Center (1A), Saint Ansgar (Class A) and Algona Garrigan (8-Player).

Northwest, Xavier and Kuemper topped all six ballots.

The top five teams in 5A are the same as last week. Northwest and fellow unbeaten Iowa City Liberty are followed by one-loss squads West Des Moines Valley, West Des Moines Dowling and Ankeny.

Northwest followed a pair of close wins over Valley and Ankeny with a 49-13 rout of Iowa City High.

There’s no change in the 4A top five; Xavier is followed by Pella, North Polk, Decorah and Fort Dodge.

The Saints continued a challenging non-district slate in dominating fashion, quickly erasing a 14-0 deficit in a 54-21 rout of Clear Creek Amana.

Decorah snapped Dubuque Wahlert’s 15-game win streak in overtime, 19-13. North Polk visits Pella this week.

Hopes of a 2A 1-vs.-2 showdown in Week 4 were dashed when former No. 2 OABCIG was tripped by Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley. Kuemper faced no such adversity; the Knights are scoring at a 46-point clip.

Monroe PCM settled into the No. 2 slot after beating Williamsburg, 23-21, on a last-second field goal. Osage, Van Meter and Cherokee round out the top five.

Grundy Center, West Lyon, Iowa City Regina, South Hardin and Pleasantville remain the top five teams in 1A. Grundy Center picked up its 42nd consecutive victory, 35-7 over archrival Dike-New Hartford.

With 13 remaining unbeatens, Class A is a challenging class to decipher. Saint Ansgar, West Hancock, Woodbury Central, Marcus MMCRU and Guthrie Center ACGC are the top five, and all will be significantly favored to roll to 4-0 this week.

Saint Ansgar landed four first-place votes this week, West Hancock and Woodbury Central one apiece.

Eight-player football is a high-scoring animal, but the top three teams — Algona Garrigan, Woodbine and Gladbrook-Reinbeck — have separated themselves from the pack based on their defense.

All three are allowing less than 10 points per game, with Gladbrook-Reinbeck surrendering just six points through three contests.

Iowa Valley stays at No. 4 after outscoring Montezuma, 83-64; Audubon is up a spot to No. 5.

The Gazette’s post-Week 3 football poll

(First-place votes in parentheses)

CLASS 5A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Waukee Northwest (6) 3-0 60 1

2. Iowa City Liberty 3-0 50 2

3. West Des Moines Valley 2-1 49 3

4. West Des Moines Dowling 2-1 42 4

5. Ankeny 2-1 29 5

T-6. Sioux City East 3-0 23 7

T-6. Southeast Polk 2-1 23 8

T-8. Iowa City West 3-0 19 10

T-8. Johnston 2-1 19 9

10. Cedar Falls 2-1 8 —

Dropped out: Cedar Rapids Prairie (6).

Others receiving votes: Cedar Rapids Prairie 3, Indianola 1, Ankeny Centennial 1, Bettendorf 1.

CLASS 4A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Cedar Rapids Xavier (6) 3-0 60 1

2. Pella 3-0 51 2

3. North Polk 3-0 46 3

4. Decorah 3-0 41 4

5. Fort Dodge 3-0 36 5

6. Sergeant Bluff-Luton 2-1 35 6

7. Gilbert 3-0 20 10

8. Newton 2-1 16 9

9. Adel ADM 2-1 14 8

10. Glenwood 3-0 6 —

Dropped out: Clear Creek Amana (7).

Others receiving votes: Clear Creek Amana 2, Lewis Central 1.

CLASS 3A W-L Pts. Pvs

T-1. Clear Lake (3) 3-0 56 3

T-1. Solon (3) 3-0 56 4

3. Sioux City Heelan 2-1 50 2

4. Mount Vernon 2-1 41 1

5. Dubuque Wahlert 2-1 27 5

6. Nevada 3-0 26 6

T-7. Algona 2-1 22 7

T-7. Independence 3-0 22 8

9. Des Moines Christian 3-0 15 9

10. MOC-Floyd Valley 3-0 7 10

Others receiving votes: West Delaware 4, Humboldt 3, Benton Community 1.

CLASS 2A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Carroll Kuemper (6) 3-0 60 1

2. Monroe PCM 2-1 46 3

3. Osage 3-0 44 5

4. Van Meter 2-1 38 5

5. Cherokee 2-1 37 4

6. Woodward-Granger 3-0 34 8

7. Mid-Prairie 2-1 18 9

T-8. Ida Grove OABCIG 2-1 15 2

T-8. Okoboji 3-0 15 —

10. Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley 2-1 8 —

Dropped out: Alburnett (7), Dike-New Hartford (9).

Others receiving votes: Alburnett 5, West Branch 4, Centerville 3, Denver 3.

CLASS 1A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Grundy Center (5) 3-0 59 1

2. West Lyon (1) 3-0 54 2

3. Iowa City Regina 3-0 49 3

4. South Hardin 3-0 42 4

5. Pleasantville 3-0 35 5

6. Treynor 2-1 31 9

7. Hinton 2-1 14 —

8. Mapleton MVAOCOU 3-0 12 —

9. Underwood 2-1 11 6

T-10. Emmetsburg 2-1 7 8

T-10. Union Community 3-0 7 —

Dropped out: Tri-Center (6), Dyersville Beckman (10).

Others receiving votes: West Marshall 6, Tri-Center 2, Dyersville Beckman 1.

CLASS A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Saint Ansgar (4) 3-0 56 1

2. West Hancock (1) 3-0 51 2

3. Woodbury Central (1) 3-0 49 3

4. Marcus MMCRU 3-0 41 4

5. Guthrie Center ACGC 3-0 36 5

6. West Sioux 3-0 25 6

7. North Linn 3-0 22 7

8. Wapsie Valley 3-0 19 8

T-9. Madrid 2-1 12 10

T-9. Maquoketa Valley 2-1 12 9

Others receiving votes: Pekin 5, Nashua-Plainfield 3.

8-PLAYER W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Algona Garrigan (5) 3-0 59 1

2. Woodbine (1) 3-0 54 2

3. Gladbrook-Reinbeck 3-0 47 3

4. Iowa Valley 4-0 42 4

5. Audubon 3-0 35 6

6. Edgewood-Colesburg 3-0 23 9

7. Easton Valley 3-0 19 10

8. Fremont-Mills 2-1 12 4

9. Don Bosco 2-1 11 —

10. Ruthven GTRA 3-0 10 —

Dropped out: Montezuma (7), Bedford (8).

Others receiving votes: Montezuma 5, Southeast Warren 5, WACO 5, Anita CAM 1, Turkey Valley 1.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com