District standings take shape

October is here, and that means the 2023 high school football playoffs are just around the corner.

Area big schools have three games left on the schedule, while the small classes have two. The district standings are shaping up as teams fight for their spots in the playoffs, which start in just over three weeks.

  Buy Photo

In Class 8-Player, Winfield-Mount Union has already clinched a district championship. The Wolves were meant to have two games left, which would have given WACO mathematical hope, but a forfeit by Mormon Trail this Friday means nobody can touch WMU at the top.

WMU and WACO are both locked in to the playoffs. In Class 8-Player, the Top-3 in each district make the playoffs, and in Class 8-Player District 6, both the Wolves and Warriors are locked into the Top-3.

New London sits in fifth in the district, two spots out of an automatic berth. Two statewide at large teams will round out the Class 8-Player field when the postseason group is selected.

In Classes A, 1A and 2A, the district champion, district runner-up, district third place team, and the district fourth place team will qualify for the playoffs. That means if the playoffs started today, Columbus and Pekin would be through in Class A, Sigourney Keota would be through in Class 1A, and Mid-Prairie would get into the Class 2A field.

Only the Top-2 are automatically into the field in Class 3A, as well as four at-large qualifiers. So far, things are looking bleak for Fairfield, Washington and Mt. Pleasant.

Listed below are the updated district standings, with the team’s overall record listed first, followed by the district record and the team’s 17-point tiebreaker plus-minus. The plus-minus numbers are used when there is a tie.

Class 8-Player District 6

1. Winfield-Mount Union 6-0, 4-0 (+17)

2. WACO 5-1, 3-1 (+8.50)

3. Iowa Valley 4-2, 2-2 (0)

4. English Valleys 2-4, 1-2 (-5.67)

5. New London 1-5, 1-3 (-10.75)

6. HLV (1-6, 0-3)

Class A District 5

1. Lisbon 6-0, 5-0 (+13.40)

2. Columbus 4-2, 4-1 (+12.40)

3. Danville 4-2, 4-1 (+10.20)

4. Pekin 4-2, 3-2 (+4.80)

5. Van Buren County 3-3, 3-2 (-1.40)

6. Wapello 1-5, 1-4 (-10.60)

7. Louisa-Muscatine 0-6, 0-5 (-14.00)

8. Highland 0-6, 0-5 (-14.80)

Class 1A District 3

1. Sigourney-Keota 5-1, 3-0 (+11.67)

2. pella Christian 4-2, 2-1 (+5.67)

3. Eddyville-Blakesburg 3-3, 2-1 (+5.67)

4. Pleasantville 3-3, 1-2 (-0.33)

5. Cardinal 1-5, 1-2 (-9.67)

6. Colfax-Mingo 1-5, 0-3 (-13.00)

Class 2A District 5

1. Mediapolis 4-2, 3-0

2. Albia 4-2, 2-1

3. Mid-Prairie 2-4, 2-1

4. West Burlington-Notre Dame 3-3, 1-2

5. Davis County 2-4, 1-2

6. Central Lee 3-3, 0-3

Class 3A District 4

1. Mount Vernon 5-1, 2-0

2. Assumption 4-2, 1-1

3. Fort Madison 4-2, 1-1

4. Keokuk 3-3, 1-1

5. Washington 2-4, 1-1

6. Mt. Pleasant 0-6, 0-2

Class 3A District 5

1. Williamsburg 6-0, 2-0

2. Solon 5-1, 2-0

3. Benton 4-2, 1-1

4. Grinnell 4-2, 1-1

5. Fairfield 2-4, 0-2

6. South Tama 0-6, 0-2