Early Class A First Round Matchups
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Thought it was a crazy outside chance Wapsie got sent to Britt for the first time ever but no definitely was the last of the 4 places I thought they would be sent especially after the way they won over Saint Ansgar. The winner of the Wapsie Britt game wins that pod.
Yup bound rankings are the only ones that matter. Lynnville sully at 9-0 is the two seed. I think both britt and grundy have the harder path to the dome as maybe more better teams are in the east this year. I think it will come down to britt, grundy, Avoca, and Woodbury central for the semis. However, All teams are good now in the round of 16. Not all are great but any team has enough talent to win.
I don't get where people are saying teams are a certain "seed" already. The state puts the pods together imo based on geography with a little bit of self knowledge about who the top 4 teams are to keep them seperate. Perhaps they use the AP Poll rankings as the official rankings? Idk. But once the final 8 are set, the 8 head coaches get on a zoom call and determine the seeding 1-8 and this determines the dome semis matchups. Nobody is seeded yet.
I agree but it's possible they did.
The AP poll has WH 1, Grundy 2, WC 3, AHSTW 4, & Lynnville 5.
Perhaps they used it to dertimine where those 5 teams were going and filled in the rest based on geography. Idk. Probably not, probably dont use any outside source ranking since its all opinion anyways but certainly possible.
If you divide up the top four of the remaining teams according to varsity bound rankings. They are in the four different pods. They play the bottom four left. The remaining 2nd four and 3rd four play each other. Not 100% but I think that is how they divvy it out. Not really seeds per se. but close.
So are you saying that Wapsie would be considered the worst of the 2s since they drew WH? I think that North Linn and Alb are better teams than Lynville who played a much easier sched than the other 2. Alb played 3 ranked teams this year and went 2-1 with their only loss to East Buc in a tight game early in season and I see they now play each other in second round. You will never get the best 4 teams in the dome when you do geographical pairings but you also arnt going to pair a Far East team with a far west team to do it as that’s HS.
I agree it would never work to have them all ranked and geographically podded. Bound rankings are wapsie 14th (4th set of four) Alburnette 5th, NL 6th, L-S 10th . But in the southern pod, L-S is the 2nd highest ranked team.
Not sure how bound does their rankings or how legit and what they take into them. I just think Lynville got a gift when you take into account their strength of sched and consider the #2 team in that district got beat in first rd. I think probably the happiest team is HMS because they don’t have WH in the road like every other year.
Iron Doc can confirm that the WH Fearsome Eagle Beasts not only don't play dirty, but don't need to play dirty.
To double down on the fact The Fearsome Eagle Beasts don't/don't need to play dirty, Iron Doc believes that the residents of Britt/Kanawha/Hutchins/North Duncan/Eagle Lake/Denhart are probably the most upright citizens in the entire North Central Iowa/South Central Minnesota region and would not tolerate such unsportsmanlike play.
By the way, I spoke to a number of the Wapsie players that felt that all-in-all, the West Hancock players were good sports, and as a fan I would concur. So I would say that the scuttlebutt I heard about them being "dirty" was inaccurate! Best of luck to the Beasts.
I see grundy Britt lynnville and Woodbury making the semis. Not a hot take as they are the favored but I don’t see any upsets right now.
Britt vs north linn will be a good game but I don’t think NL defense is enough to stop britt
Grundy vs EB , grundy handled a very powerful Columbus offense pretty easy and EB is similar to Columbus.
Avoca vs lynnville. Two teams that have not really been tried. I think LS defense is better than Avoca offense tho
Woodbury looks legit and HMS is no slouch but I just don’t see HMS stopping them
Britt vs north linn will be a good game but I don’t think NL defense is enough to stop britt
Grundy vs EB , grundy handled a very powerful Columbus offense pretty easy and EB is similar to Columbus.
Avoca vs lynnville. Two teams that have not really been tried. I think LS defense is better than Avoca offense tho
Woodbury looks legit and HMS is no slouch but I just don’t see HMS stopping them
As expected as everyone hates on a winner instead of just beating them it’s easier to say something bad about them. Going to be some really good matchups here this Friday with the dome on the line. Looks like for the first time all year that weather could be a factor as rain chances are pretty high. Good luck to all the teams remaining you have earned the right to be in the quarters.
Think their will be at least one upset not sure who but based on rankings a top 4 team will get upset. I think this year in class A this is about as open as it’s ever been and all 8 teams can state a case to be in the finals. Rainy weather on Friday night can a teams that like to pass like a woodburry consistently run the football with success. Is West Hancock really a lock to win the title after a close win vs Wapsie last week. And against a NL team that may have their QB back after missing 2 games. Can Grundy stop a better balanced rushing team in East Buc than they just faced against CJ. And lastly is Lynville for real as this will be their first true test all year as their schedule was probably the weakest of all 8 teams. Just a few questions as to why I think you will see at least one upset your not expecting.
HMS vs Woodbury Central should be a good game, HMS has two losses but they are two very quality losses. To me this is a toss up type game, if there is any weather that could influence the outcome as Woodbury Central likes to toss the ball around the yard.
West Hancock vs North Linn could be very dependent on two things, first off whether or not the North Linn QB plays, he has mono so I don't know how long he would be out with that, sometimes it can be a very long time. Secondly just like the HMS vs WC game the weather, if it rains that's an advantage for WH. The only way I see North Linn winning is by throwing the ball a lot.
Grundy Center vs East Buc is an intriguing game to me. I think Grundy has played the toughest overall schedule of any of the teams remaining, HMS would be close but district 3 was very good this year so I will give Grundy the advantage and passed every test with flying colors. However East Buc might be a team that can shorten the game and grind out a win. I would take Grundy but they will have a tougher game then the last two playoff games.
Lynnville Sully vs AHSTW, personally I wish they went with neutral sites for all quarterfinal games, and this game is why two undefeated teams and it is determined by the alphabet. It isn't actually as long of a trip for AHSTW as I thought it would be, but still you go undefeated and your on the road in the quarterfinals because of the alphabet. I think that L-S is a slightly better team but has not played that difficult of a schedule, to me it's a toss up.
West Hancock vs North Linn could be very dependent on two things, first off whether or not the North Linn QB plays, he has mono so I don't know how long he would be out with that, sometimes it can be a very long time. Secondly just like the HMS vs WC game the weather, if it rains that's an advantage for WH. The only way I see North Linn winning is by throwing the ball a lot.
Grundy Center vs East Buc is an intriguing game to me. I think Grundy has played the toughest overall schedule of any of the teams remaining, HMS would be close but district 3 was very good this year so I will give Grundy the advantage and passed every test with flying colors. However East Buc might be a team that can shorten the game and grind out a win. I would take Grundy but they will have a tougher game then the last two playoff games.
Lynnville Sully vs AHSTW, personally I wish they went with neutral sites for all quarterfinal games, and this game is why two undefeated teams and it is determined by the alphabet. It isn't actually as long of a trip for AHSTW as I thought it would be, but still you go undefeated and your on the road in the quarterfinals because of the alphabet. I think that L-S is a slightly better team but has not played that difficult of a schedule, to me it's a toss up.
Alright. Top four are on the board. Who ya got? I’ll start. I see Britt winning by 35. And Grundy winning by 14.
It's a great listen, I would disagree with the assessment on the GC/Woodbury game. Watching them this season, I actually like Gordon better than Knaack last year, kid is a much better thrower, and no side arm action.
that first game was a fun one. GC/Woodbury had the looks of a good game, but wow how quickly things changed, and scratch that if Woodbury punches this one in, it certainly changes things.
Well I didn’t see that coming. End result the same. Championship is what most predicted the top two teams all year. I am surprised the GC offense rolled that many on WC. Their defense is legit but can it stop the ground and pound WH? Looks to be another great title match. I’m picking GC over WH by a touchdown
WH really needs a score after half to stay in this thing, especially looking at their passing game. They will not have the ability to put up points quickly.
Not sure what GC has coming back for line, but they’ll be loaded at the skills…QB, top two RBs, and 3 of top 4 WRs return. Also don’t know who will be moving to A next year since it’ll be a new cycle, but they’ll be up there for preseason number 1 and will have a great chance to repeat next season.
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Wouldn’t it be something if the state did relegation, like in soccer? Win a state title, move up a class the next year. Sorry, Remsen St. Mary’s, you’ll have to learn how to play 11-man football in Class A!
A team like Harlan probably could compete pretty well in 4A, and Xavier or Lewis Central wouldn‘t be embarrassed in 5A, but they’re probably not winning titles against Southeast Polk or Ankeny … 2022 suburban Des Moines football is quite different than 2006 or 2012. Plus, what do you do with the 5A champ? Move them up to NCAA Division III?
those larger schools , like dowling and valley, u could see some really good lineman that would be missing in 4a most of the time...it would be nice to see lewis central play dowling, but they would probably fall short...Wouldn’t it be something if the state did relegation, like in soccer? Win a state title, move up a class the next year. Sorry, Remsen St. Mary’s, you’ll have to learn how to play 11-man football in Class A!
A team like Harlan probably could compete pretty well in 4A, and Xavier or Lewis Central wouldn‘t be embarrassed in 5A, but they’re probably not winning titles against Southeast Polk or Ankeny … 2022 suburban Des Moines football is quite different than 2006 or 2012. Plus, what do you do with the 5A champ? Move them up to NCAA Division III?
calpreps shows
lewis central 31
dowling 28
They are a very good team and if they do move up to 1A, they will be real competative. However. they are not even close to the top in 1A. They barely be a good (not great) DNH team. DNH did not even get to the quarters. A is a lot different than 1A.
If Grundy does move up they will be a title contender, they only had 4 seniors that we real contributors, they will be better next year. Plus there is a good chance that Van Meter moves up to 2A, West Sioux is very senior heavy, and I have read that they could be 2A as well, but that would be a big jump.
If Van Meter and West Sioux would happen to go up to 2A, then 1A would be wide open. There were no teams close to VM and WS in 1A. The next best teams were West Branch (senior heavy in skill positions but return several good linemen), Underwood (return many skill guys but lose QB), and MFL (who return 8 starters on defense and 7 on offense).
If Grundy Center goes up to 1A and VM and WS go to 2A, I'd probably rank GC, WB, MFL & Underwood in the top 4 to start next year.
