The Des Moines Register's 2022 preseason Iowa high school football rankings

Cody Goodwin, Des Moines Register

The fall sports season has returned, which means football season has returned.

And that means the Des Moines Register's football rankings have returned, too.

The 2022 football season is here. Practices officially started last week. Scrimmages and Week 0 games are this Friday, and Week 1 is next week for all teams statewide.

That means every Friday between now and Nov. 18 — that's 14 full weeks! — will feature high school football contests, the very game the Iowa High School Athletic Association dubbed "America's Game, Iowa High School Passion."

To get you ready for the action, we're pleased to announce the Register's preseason class rankings for the 2022 season.

Quarterback JJ Kohl (12) and the Ankeny Hawks are the top-ranked team in Class 5A in the Des Moines Register's preseason football rankings.
Quarterback JJ Kohl (12) and the Ankeny Hawks are the top-ranked team in Class 5A in the Des Moines Register's preseason football rankings.

These initial polls were compiled with the help of input and guidance from more than 150 coaches statewide, as well as thorough discussions and observations among staff writers from the Register, Iowa City Press-Citizen, Ames Tribune, and Burlington Hawkeye.

Many of the teams included in this first set of rankings will look familiar, but expect a healthy amount of shuffling through the first few weeks of the season. The results each week will ultimately reveal which teams will rise to the top or fall to the bottom.

Our preseason number ones: Ankeny in Class 5A; Lewis Central in 4A; Harlan in 3A; West Lyon in 2A; Van Meter in 1A; East Buchanan in Class A and Easton Valley in 8-Player.

The full polls can be found below.

Class 5A

1. Ankeny

2. Southeast Polk

3. Dowling Catholic

4. Pleasant Valley

5. Iowa City High

6. West Des Moines Valley

7. Cedar Falls

8. Urbandale

9. Cedar Rapids Kennedy

10. Cedar Rapids Prairie

Class 4A

1. Lewis Central

2. Cedar Rapids Xavier

3. Waverly-Shell Rock

4. North Scott

5. Webster City

6. Bondurant-Farrar

7. Winterset

8. Indianola

9. Fort Dodge

10. Spencer

Class 3A

1. Harlan

2. West Delaware

3. Solon

4. Sergeant Buff-Luton

5. Independence

6. Humboldt

7. Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley

8. Nevada

9. MOC-Floyd Valley

10. Benton

Class 2A

1. West Lyon

2. Williamsburg

3. Waukon

4. Central Lyon

5. OABCIG

6. Osage

7. Dubuque Wahlert

8. New Hampton

9. Union

10. Monticello

Class 1A

1. Van Meter

2. West Sioux

3. Dike-New Hartford

4. Beckman Catholic

5. West Branch

6. Pella Christian

7. Underwood

8. Iowa City Regina

9. ACGC

10. Columbus Catholic

Class A

1. East Buchanan

2. West Hancock

3. North Linn

4. Grundy Center

5. Woodbury Central

6. Wapsie Valley

7. Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn

8. Lisbon

9. Lynnville-Sully

10. Saint Ansgar

8-Player

1. Easton Valley

2. Newell-Fonda

3. Remsen St. Mary’s

4. WACO

5. Don Bosco

6. Audubon

7. Southeast Warren

8. Gladbrook-Reinbeck

9. Winfield-Mt. Union

10. Baxter

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: Iowa high school football 2022 preseason rankings

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