Iowa high school football 2025: The Gazette’s post-Week 4 poll

When Clear Lake visits Independence on Friday, it’s more than a Class 3A District 2 football opener.

It’s more than a Week 5 battle of unbeatens.

It’s a 3A top-five showdown.

Now in sole possession of the 3A No. 1 slot, Clear Lake makes the 120-mile trip to Buchanan County on Friday. It’s the first step of settling things in a deep district that also features West Delaware and Benton Community.

The Clear Lake-Indee biggie is one of 11 ranked-vs.-ranked games from this week’s The Gazette’s poll.

Other than Clear Lake’s annexation of the 3A No. 1 ranking (the Lions had shared top billing with Solon last week), there are no changes at the top in the other six classes.

Waukee Northwest (5A), Cedar Rapids Xavier (4A) and Carroll Kuemper (2A) are unanimous No. 1s in their respective classes. Grundy Center leads 1A, Saint Ansgar is tops in Class A and Algona Garrigan remains atop 8-Player.

Northwest solidified its top spot with a 45-10 romp over Cedar Rapids Prairie. West Des Moines Valley, West Des Moines Dowling and Ankeny each climbed a spot to 2-3-4, and Johnston is up to No. 5 after the Dragons knocked off then-No. 2 Iowa City Liberty, 27-24, last week.

Liberty fell six spots to No. 8 and plays at No. 7 Iowa City West this week.

The big game in 4A last week was Pella’s 19-15 victory over North Polk, avenging a loss to the Comets in last year’s state final.

North Polk dropped only one spot, to No. 4. Xavier, Pella and Fort Dodge are the top three, with the Dodgers welcoming No. 5 Sergeant Bluff-Luton this week.

Clear Lake and Solon both won seven-point games in Week 4 (the Lions beat Nevada 21-14, and the Spartans topped Benton Community 28-21).

The teams had split the first-place votes after Week 3. Now, Clear Lake owns a 5-1 advantage in that category, and it’s 59-54 in poll points.

Sioux City Heelan and Mount Vernon are third and fourth, with Indee up two spots to No. 5.

Kuemper is followed in 2A by Monroe PCM, Osage, Van Meter and Mid-Prairie.

In 1A, it’s Grundy Center (winner of 43 consecutive games), followed by West Lyon (the 2024 2A state champion), Iowa City Regina, South Hardin and Treynor.

There is virtually no change in the Class A top 10. Saint Ansgar continues to lead, then it’s West Hancock, Woodbury Central, Marcus MMCRU and Guthrie Center ACGC.

Status quo reigns in 8-Player as well. Garrigan continues to lead, and is followed by Woodbine, Gladbrook-Reinbeck, Iowa Valley and Audubon.

The Gazette’s post-Week 3 football poll

(First-place votes in parentheses)

CLASS 5A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Waukee Northwest (6) 4-0 60 1

2. West Des Moines Valley 3-1 53 3

3. West Des Moines Dowling 3-1 46 4

4. Ankeny 3-1 36 5

5. Johnston 3-1 33 8

6. Sioux City East 4-0 27 6

7. Iowa City West 4-0 26 8

8. Iowa City Liberty 3-1 25 2

9. Cedar Falls 3-1 16 10

10. Southeast Polk 2-2 4 6

Others receiving votes: Dallas Center-Grimes 2, Ankeny Centennial 1, Pleasant Valley 1.

CLASS 4A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Cedar Rapids Xavier (6) 4-0 60 1

2. Pella 4-0 54 2

3. Fort Dodge 4-0 44 5

4. North Polk 3-1 42 3

5. Sergeant Bluff-Luton 3-1 38 6

6. Gilbert 4-0 31 7

7. Adel ADM 3-1 21 9

8. Newton 3-1 19 8

9. Western Dubuque 2-2 11 —

10. Decorah 3-1 8 4

Dropped out: Glenwood (10).

Others receiving votes: Glenwood 1, North Scott 1.

CLASS 3A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Clear Lake (5) 4-0 59 1

2. Solon (1) 4-0 54 1

3. Sioux City Heelan 3-1 49 3

4. Mount Vernon 3-1 42 4

5. Independence 4-0 31 7

6. Algona 3-1 29 7

7. Des Moines Christian 4-0 23 9

8. Nevada 3-1 18 6

9. West Delaware 4-0 17 —

10. Sioux Center 4-0 6 —

Dropped out: Dubuque Wahlert (5), MOC-Floyd Valley (10).

Others receiving votes: Dubuque Wahlert 1, Humboldt 1.

CLASS 2A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Carroll Kuemper (6) 4-0 60 1

2. Monroe PCM 3-1 50 2

3. Osage 4-0 48 3

4. Van Meter 3-1 46 4

5. Mid-Prairie 3-1 26 7

6. Okoboji 4-0 25 8

7. Woodward-Granger 3-1 19 6

8. Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley 3-1 18 10

9. West Branch 3-1 15 —

10. Alburnett 3-1 11 —

Dropped out: Cherokee (5), Ida Grove OABCIG (8).

Others receiving votes: Centerville 8, Clarinda 2, Ida Grove OABCIG 2.

CLASS 1A W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Grundy Center (5) 4-0 59 1

2. West Lyon (1) 4-0 54 2

3. Iowa City Regina 4-0 49 3

4. South Hardin 4-0 42 4

5. Treynor 3-1 36 6

6. Underwood 3-1 28 9

7. Union Community 4-0 21 10

8. Emmetsburg 3-1 20 10

9. West Marshall 3-1 9 —

10. Lawton-Bronson 3-1 6 —

Dropped out: Pleasantville (5), Hinton (7), Mapleton MVAOCOU (8).

Others receiving votes: Dyersville Beckman 4, Pleasantville 3.

CLASS A W-L Pts. Pvs

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

2. West Hancock (1) 4-0 51 2

3. Woodbury Central 4-0 47 3

4. Marcus MMCRU 4-0 42 4

5. Guthrie Center ACGC 4-0 36 5

6. West Sioux (1) 4-0 26 6

7. North Linn 4-0 21 7

8. Wapsie Valley 4-0 19 8

9. Madrid 3-1 13 9

10. Maquoketa Valley 3-1 10 9

Others receiving votes: Pekin 5, Nashua-Plainfield 4.

8-PLAYER W-L Pts. Pvs

1. Algona Garrigan (5) 4-0 59 1

2. Woodbine (1) 4-0 54 2

3. Gladbrook-Reinbeck 4-0 47 3

4. Iowa Valley 5-0 42 4

5. Audubon 4-0 35 5

6. Edgewood-Colesburg 4-0 26 6

7. Easton Valley 4-0 24 7

8. Don Bosco 2-1 17 9

9. Fremont-Mills 3-1 11 8

10. Ruthven GTRA 4-0 9 10

Others receiving votes: Montezuma 3, Southeast Warren 2, Elkader Central 1.

Comments: jeff.linder@thegazette.com