Week 7 brought more great football and with that comes some big winners and losers in the rankings. Playoffs are nearly here and teams make last-ditch efforts to show they’re the best of the best.
4A
To start off let’s talk about Ankeny Centennial. After there 49-44 win against 9th ranked Fort Dodge they have dropped to 3rd place overall. Ankeny Centennial beat WDM Dowling in week 4 and was ranked 1st for while but it seems after the close win there power ranking dropped 7.06 points. And what makes things even most interesting is Dowling is back at the #1 spot again. We talked about this last we but as the postseason approaches, it seems Dowling is on the rise both offensively and in power ranking.
3A
CR Xavier and CB Lewis Central are dominating the 3A level, climbing to a different of 27 points between the 1st and 3rd ranked team. In fact, CR Xavier beat 4th ranked Western Dubuque in a shutout by 35 points… Western Dubuque is also in CR Xavier’s conference making them 3-0 in conference play. If I were to assume anything this year about IHSAA football this year, it’s CR Xavier and CB Lewis Central will be the teams playing for the 3A championship.
2A
Prairie City-Monroe and Algona are officially the last undefeated teams in 2A play. That might change for Algona though as they play 4th ranked Spirit Lake next week. PCM should easily be undefeated for the rest of regular season play. In other 2A news, let’s talk about Des Moines Christian who just last year was 1A with a finishing record of 1-8. They have since been pushed up to 2A and although they lost to #1 ranked PCM they are currently 5-2 overall. It’s interesting to see the excitement this season has brought back to the program.
1A
Since 1A is still overflowing with undefeated teams we’re going to look at top 10 contenders. with one loss, who still have a shot at the 1A title. Staring with Hawarden West Sioux who had a big win over 11th ranked Inwood West Lyon. Hawarden West Sioux only has one loss and it’s actually to Boyden-Hull-R Valley which is currently ranked 2nd in 2A. Hawarden’s scoring ability is strong and they still have a great chance of making it to the championship round. This is the same for West Branch who’s only loss is too the 3rd ranked Bellevue and a close one at that. We expect both teams to excel come playoff time.