NL football climbs the rankings

NEW LONDON - It gets lonely at the top, and although the New London football team doesn't sit atop every Class 8-Man ranking, they hit No. 1 in two of the major polls this weekend when the Associated Press and Radio Iowa both lifted them to the No. 1 ranking.

This came on the heels of previous No. 1 Don Bosco falling in shutout fashion. The Tigers were ranked No. 2 last week, which made them the perfect suitor for the top spot.

The Tigers aren't just No. 1 in the AP and Radio Iowa Polls. IowaPreps.com has the Tigers at No. 1 as well. New London sits No. 2 in the RPI and No. 3 in both the Gazette poll and the BCMoore rankings.

The Tigers will take on Iowa Valley in Marengo this week, and it will be a matchup of top 6 teams no matter which poll you look at. Iowa Valley is ranked as highly as No. 2 in the Radio Iowa poll and as low as No. 6 in the AP.

No matter what the rankings show, the winner of the New London-Iowa Valley game will be heavily favored for the district championship, meaning a win could make playoff road trips quite a bit shorter for Tiger fans. The top teams in each class get to host at least one game, and possibly two, when the playoffs begin.