High School Football: Eastern Iowa Week 7 Schedule
With the Iowa high school football season winding down, district races and playoff qualifiers are being decided across the state.
For teams that compete in the smallest four classes (8-player, A, 1A and 2A), there are only two regular-season games remaining on the 2021 schedule. The playoff field in each class will feature 32 teams. The non-playoff qualifiers have the option of scheduling a ninth game, if they choose to.
Teams that compete in Iowa's three largest classes (3A, 4A and 5A) are playing a nine-game schedule, therefore each of them have three regular season games remaining. There will be 16 playoff qualifiers in each class.
Week seven of the season gets an early start with two games involving eastern Iowa teams scheduled to be played Thursday night. Waterloo West travels to Cedar Rapids Jefferson and Davenport West hosts Cedar Rapids Kennedy, the No. 1-ranked team in Class 5A.
Three games on Friday night feature a match-up of rated (Associated Press poll) teams. The showdown in Class 5A is No. 7 Cedar Rapids Prairie (5-1) hosting No. 3 Southeast Polk (5-1), and in Class 4A, third-ranked Cedar Rapids Xavier (5-1) entertains No. 10 Clear Creek-Amana (5-1). The marquee match-up in Class 1A is No. 5 Dike-New Hartford (6-0) playing at No. 7 Denver (6-0), which will determine the champion of District 3.
Four other Friday games feature a rated team playing an opponent that received votes to be ranked in the latest poll. One of the most intriguing games is an eight-player match-up that has Don Bosco of Gilbertville playing at No. 6 Gladbrook-Reinbeck (6-0), which will decide the District 4 title.
Since switching to eight-player football prior to the 2018 season, the host Rebels are unbeaten in district games. Their last district loss was a 5-0 setback to Hudson in heavy rain on Oct. 7, 2017. Gladbrook-Reinbeck finished its final season of 11-player football with back-to-back district victorie, and the Rebels have won all 25 district games against eight-player competition.
Gladbrook-Reinbeck is putting its 27-game district win streak on the line against a perennial state juggernaut that moved to the eight-player game in 2012. During the past 10 seasons, Don Bosco has won four state championships and finished second twice while compiling a 110-7 overall record. Two of the Dons' victories were non-district blowouts against Gladbrook-Reinbeck in 2018 (50-6) and 2019 (44-0).
Here is the full schedule of this week's eastern Iowa games with approximate start times:
Thursday, Oct. 7:
Waterloo West at Cedar Rapids Jefferson - 7:15 PM (Kingston Stadium)
5A-#1 Cedar Rapids Kennedy at Davenport West - 7:30 PM (Brady Street Stadium)
Friday, Oct. 8:
Central, Elkader at Springville - 7 PM (Allison Field)
Central Springs at Aplington-Parkersburg - 7 PM (Ed Thomas Field, Parkersburg)
A-#6 Grundy Center at BCLUW, Conrad - 7 PM
8P-RV Janesville at Clarksville - 7 PM
1A-#5 Dike-New Hartford at 1A-#7 Denver - 7 PM
Edgewood-Colesburg at 8P-#3 Easton Valley, Preston - 7 PM
8P-RV Don Bosco, Gilbertville at 8P-#6 Gladbrook-Reinbeck - 7 PM (The Pit, Gladbrook)
Dunkerton at Green Mountain-Garwin - 7 PM
Iowa Valley, Marengo at HLV, Victor - 7 PM
1A-RV West Branch at 1A-#3 Iowa City Regina - 7 PM
Highland, Riverside at A-#8 Lisbon - 7 PM
New London at Lone Tree - 7 PM
5A-RV Des Moines Roosevelt at Marshalltown - 7 PM (Leonard Cole Field)
Cascade at 1A-RV MFL-Mar-Mac - 7 PM
8P-#10 Kee High, Lansing at Midland, Wyoming - 7 PM
Anamosa at 2A-RV Monticello - 7 PM (Dean Nelson Field)
AGWSR, Ackley at Nashua-Plainfield - 7 PM
Lake Mills at A-#5 North Butler, Greene - 7 PM
Hudson at A-#2 North Linn, Troy Mills - 7 PM
Wapsie Valley, Fairbank at A-#4 North Tama, Traer - 7 PM
Belle Plaine at Pekin, Packwood - 7 PM
West Central, Maynard at Rockford - 7 PM
Bellevue at South Winneshiek, Calmar - 7 PM
East Buchanan, Winthrop at Clayton Ridge, Guttenberg - 7 PM (Stephen D. Shannon Athletic Complex)
Tripoli at Turkey Valley, Jackson Junction - 7 PM
Postville at Waterloo Columbus Catholic - (WATERLOO COLUMBUS CATHOLIC WINS BY FORFEIT)
3A-RV Davenport Assumption at 3A-RV Benton, Van Horne - 7:15 PM
Dubuque Hempstead at 5A-#10 Cedar Falls - 7:15 PM (UNI-Dome, University of Northern Iowa)
5A-#3 Southeast Polk at 5A-#7 Cedar Rapids Prairie - 7:15 PM
Muscatine at 5A-RV Dubuque Senior - 7:15 PM (Dalzell Field)
Bettendorf at Iowa City West - (BETTENDORF WINS BY FORFEIT)
Ottumwa at 5A-#8 Linn-Mar, Marion - 7:15 PM
Maquoketa at Mount Vernon - 7:15 PM
5A-#2 Iowa City High at 5A-RV Pleasant Valley - 7:15 PM
4A-RV Newton at Cedar Rapids Washington - 7:30 PM
4A-#10 Clear Creek-Amana, Tiffin at 4A-#3 Cedar Rapids Xavier - 7:30 PM
South Tama at Center Point-Urbana - 7:30 PM
3A-#6 Independence at Charles City - 7:30 PM
Clear Lake at Crestwood, Cresco - 7:30 PM
Marion at 4A-RV Decorah - 7:30 PM
Oelwein at Dubuque Wahlert Catholic - 7:30 PM (Rock Bowl, Loras College)
New Hampton at Forest City - 7:30 PM
Iowa City Liberty at 4A-#6 Fort Madison - 7:30 PM
Albia at Iowa Falls-Alden - 7:30 PM (Cadet Field)
2A-#3 Waukon at Jesup - 7:30 PM
Starmont at Maquoketa Valley, Delhi - 7:30 PM
Fairfield at 3A-#3 Solon - 7:30 PM
1A-#6 Dyersville Beckman Catholic at Sumner-Fredericksburg - 7:30 PM
Central DeWitt at Vinton-Shellsburg - 7:30 PM
Western Dubuque, Dubuque at Waterloo East - 7:30 PM (Memorial Stadium)
Mason City at Waverly-Shell Rock - 7:30 PM
Hampton-Dumont-CAL at 3A-#5 West Delaware, Manchester - 7:30 PM
2A-#9 North Fayette Valley, West Union at Union, La Porte City - 7:30 PM