High school football assignments released
We are roughly five months out from the start of the prep football season.
And now, teams around the state know exactly who they will be matched up with in terms of districts and group assignments for each class over the next two years.
These will be the first to use the socioeconomic factor that was approved by the State Board of Education this past winter.
Fort Dodge will remain in Class 4A and will be joined in District 1 by Denison-Schleswig, LeMars, Sioux City West, Spencer and Storm Lake. Four of those teams will be the same as the last two seasons for the Dodgers in Spencer, LeMars, Denison-Schleswig and Storm Lake.
Last year, Fort Dodge went 4-5 overall as Spencer captured the district title. The Dodgers earned wins over Storm Lake and Denison-Schleswig, along with non-district foes Waterloo East and Marshalltown.
St. Edmond will also remain in eight-player, as they will compete in District 9 with Audubon, Baxter, Collins-Maxwell, Colo-Nesco, Coon Rapids-Bayard and Glidden-Ralston. The Gaels went 4-4 a season ago but will be matched up with completely new teams.
Along with district wins over North Iowa, Bishop Garrigan and Northwood-Kensett, St. Edmond defeated Ar-We-Va.
Webster City is one of the programs moving classes, as they will drop from 4A to 3A. The Lynx will be in District 2 with North Central Conference rivals Algona, Humboldt, Clear Lake and Hampton-Dumont/CAL, with Charles City rounding things out.
Clarion-Goldfield/Dows will be in 2A, District 2 with Okoboji, Spirit Lake, Estherville-LC, Garner-Hayfield/Ventura and Forest City, with Southeast Valley and Greene County in District 8 with Des Moines Christian, Carroll Kuemper, Roland-Story and Saydel.
In 1A, District 2 will be Eagle Grove, East Sac County, Emmetsburg, Manson Northwest Webster, Pocahontas Area and Sioux Central while North Union competes in A, District 2 alongside Belmond-Klemme, Lake Mills, Mason City Newman, Saint Ansgar, West Fork and West Hancock.
South Central Calhoun is part of A, District 7 with ACGC, Earlham, IKM-Manning, Panorama, Riverside Oakland and Southwest Valley.
In eight-player, District 1 will be Newell-Fonda along with Ar-We-Va, Boyer Valley, Siouxland Christian, Remsen St. Mary’s, West Harrison and Woodbine, while Bishop Garrigan and West Bend-Mallard are part of District 2 with GTRA, Harris-Lake Park, North Iowa, Northwood-Kensett and Rockford.