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Two new top-ranked teams highlight our final Iowa high school football rankings for 2022

cody goodwin, des moines register
·5 min read

The 2022 high school football regular season is in the books — and before we embark on the always-exciting postseason, we've got one final set of rankings to take us home.

The Des Moines Register's high school football rankings got one final makeover for 2022, and there are some important changes after Week 9. Most notably, there are two new No. 1-ranked teams, in both of Iowa's largest classes, as the playoffs are set to begin.

In Class 5A, Dowling Catholic is back on top. The Maroons' 43-7 win over Waukee was their eighth-straight this season, all of which came after a season-opening loss to Southeast Polk. Pleasant Valley, which held the No. 1 spot for five weeks, tumbled to No. 4, behind Dowling, Ankeny and Southeast Polk, despite finishing the regular season 9-0.

More:Iowa high school football: Here are all the Round-of-16 and quarterfinal playoff pairings

In Class 4A, Cedar Rapids Xavier leapfrogged Lewis Central for the top spot following a 52-6 win over Oskaloosa, which capped a perfect regular season for the Saints. The Titans, who also finished 9-0 and actually beat Xavier for last year's Class 4A state championship, fell to No. 2 while Waverly-Shell Rock held at No. 3.

Dowling Catholic's Hank Brown celebrates scoring a touchdown during Friday’s game against Waukee.
Dowling Catholic's Hank Brown celebrates scoring a touchdown during Friday’s game against Waukee.

Those were the biggest movers in the three large-class polls after Week 9's results.

Class 5A saw a little bit of shuffling, with Cedar Rapids Prairie dropping to No. 10 after a 28-13 loss to Linn-Mar. That moved everybody else up a spot: Cedar Falls to No. 5, Johnston to No. 6, Iowa City High to No. 7, Cedar Rapids Kennedy to No. 8 and Linn-Mar to No. 9.

There was no movement at all in Class 4A, and only a little bit in Class 3A, where ADM jumped to No. 4 after North Polk beat Nevada and both Central DeWitt and Hampton-Dumont-CAL re-entered the poll at Nos. 9 and 10, respectively, after Benton and Creston both lost in Week 9.

More:Here are the top performers from Week 9 of Iowa high school football

These rankings will carry us through the next four weeks as the postseason unfolds. The Round-of-16 for all classes will be Oct. 28. The quarterfinals are set for Nov. 3 for 8-Player and Nov. 4 for the remaining six classes. The UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls will host both the semifinals, on Nov. 9-12, and finals, Nov. 17-18.

Class 5A

  1. Dowling Catholic (8-1), beat Waukee 43-7

  2. Ankeny (8-1), beat Des Moines Lincoln 54-6

  3. Southeast Polk (8-1), beat Cedar Rapids Jefferson 63-7

  4. Pleasant Valley (9-0), beat Iowa City West 35-14

  5. Cedar Falls (7-2), beat Dubuque Senior 24-14

  6. Johnston (6-3), beat Ames 31-9

  7. Iowa City High (6-3), beat Davenport Central 79-0

  8. Cedar Rapids Kennedy (7-2), beat Dubuque Hempstead 41-0

  9. Linn-Mar (6-3), beat Cedar Rapids Prairie 28-13

  10. Cedar Rapids Prairie (6-3), lost to Linn-Mar 28-13

Dropped Out: None

Class 4A

  1. Cedar Rapids Xavier (9-0), beat Oskaloosa 52-6

  2. Lewis Central (9-0), beat Winterset 42-15

  3. Waverly-Shell Rock (9-0), beat Decorah 32-13

  4. Carlisle (8-1), beat Perry via forfeit

  5. Iowa City Liberty (8-1), beat Clinton 42-7

  6. Bondurant-Farrar (8-1), beat Norwalk 34-7

  7. North Scott (7-2), beat Mount Pleasant 49-10

  8. Western Dubuque (6-3), beat Mason City 36-26

  9. Spencer (7-2), beat Storm Lake 35-7

  10. Indianola (6-3), beat Boone 49-0

Dropped Out: none

Class 3A

  1. Harlan (8-1), beat Knoxville 49-0

  2. Mount Vernon (9-0), beat Vinton-Shellsburg 55-6

  3. Independence (9-1), beat Center Point-Urbana 38-20

  4. ADM (8-1), beat Saydel 65-0

  5. Humboldt (8-1), beat Algona 31-8

  6. Solon (7-2), beat Keokuk 41-7

  7. North Polk (7-2), beat Nevada 35-14

  8. Nevada (7-2), lost to North Polk 35-14

  9. Central DeWitt (6-3), beat Benton 21-14 (OT)

  10. Hampton-Dumont-CAL (6-3), beat South Tama 21-13

Dropped Out: Benton, Creston

All listed results for Class 2A, 1A, A, and 8-Player are first-round playoff results. There were no changes made from last week's final polls.

Class 2A

  1. Williamsburg (9-0), beat Camanche 42-0

  2. Central Lyon (9-0), beat Iowa Falls-Alden 57-0

  3. West Marshall (9-0), beat Clarke 63-13

  4. Spirit Lake (9-0), beat Sheldon 35-7

  5. OABCIG (8-1), beat Unity Christian 29-23

  6. West Lyon (7-2), beat Estherville Lincoln Central 37-26

  7. Greene County (8-1), beat Union 35-13

  8. Osage (7-2), beat Clarion-Goldfield-Dows 49-15

  9. Dubuque Wahlert (7-2), beat West Liberty 62-0

  10. Centerville (7-2), beat Des Moines Christian 50-42

Class 1A

  1. Van Meter (8-1), beat Pleasantville 49-0

  2. West Sioux (8-1), beat East Sac County 58-0

  3. West Branch (9-0), beat South Hardin 42-0

  4. Underwood (9-0), beat Interstate 35 49-17

  5. Kuemper Catholic (8-1), beat Emmetsburg 35-8

  6. Aplington-Parkersburg (8-1), beat Eagle Grove 56-8

  7. South Hamilton (8-1), beat Ridge View 54-12

  8. Pella Christian (8-1), beat Iowa City Regina 31-0

  9. Mediapolis (8-1), beat Central Decatur 52-7

  10. Sigourney-Keota (7-2), beat Sumner-Fredricksburg 31-0

Class A

  1. West Hancock (9-0), beat Nashua-Plainfield 44-16

  2. Grundy Center (9-0), beat Belle Plaine 49-0

  3. Woodbury Central (9-0), beat South O’Brien 42-0

  4. Lynnville-Sully (9-0), beat Earlham 49-16

  5. AHSTW (9-0), beat Westwood 46-21

  6. North Linn (8-1), beat Wapello 45-0

  7. East Buchanan (8-1), beat Lisbon 44-14

  8. Alburnett (8-1), beat Bellevue 38-27

  9. Mount Ayr (8-1), beat Ogden 27-24

  10. Newman Catholic (8-1), beat Hudson 49-42

8-Player

  1. Remsen St. Mary’s (9-0), beat Audubon 76-0

  2. Don Bosco (8-0), beat Winfield-Mt. Union 48-18

  3. WACO (10-0), beat Martensdale-St. Marys 57-14

  4. Easton Valley (7-1), beat BGM 40-34

  5. Lenox (9-0), beat Colo-NESCO 66-14

  6. West Harrison (9-0), beat Bedford 29-27

  7. Gladbrook-Reinbeck (8-1), beat New London 46-14

  8. Southeast Warren (9-1), beat East Mills 38-32

  9. Newell-Fonda (8-1), beat Harris-Lake Park 55-26

  10. Turkey Valley (7-1), beat Edgewood-Colesburg 71-42

Cody Goodwin covers wrestling and high school sports for the Des Moines Register. Follow him on Twitter at @codygoodwin.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Dowling, Xavier No. 1 in final 2022 Iowa high school football rankings