Iowa High School Football Class And District Assignments

Boone, Iowa — The Class and District assignments for Iowa High School Football have been released.

The 2021 football season will be the first with a new seventh classification (Class 5A), approved in January by the Board of Control to reduce the disparity in enrollment in the IHSAA’s largest class of football, and to increase the number of participating teams and student-athletes in the postseason across all classes. Following the one-year assignments in 2020, districts and Class 5A groups are effective for a two-year cycle.

Class 5A’s group and success model format is based on information outlined in February 2020, before COVID-19 related changes were made in July to the IHSAA’s football scheduling and postseason.

Week 1 of the 2021 football season is scheduled to begin Thursday, Aug. 26th. Teams in 2A, 1A, A, and 8P will be permitted to play a ninth regular season contest should they not qualify for the postseason.

Schedules for the 2021-22 seasons will be released in April.

Class 4A DISTRICT #1
Denison-Schleswig
Fort Dodge
LeMars
Spencer
Storm Lake
Webster City

Class 3A DISTRICT #1
Bishop Heelan, Sioux City
Boyden-Hull/Rock Valley
Carroll
MOC-Floyd Valley
Sergeant Bluff-Luton
Sioux Center

Class 2A DISTRICT #1
Central Lyon/George-Little Rock
Cherokee, Washington
Okoboji, Milford
Sheldon
Unity Christian, Orange City
West Lyon, Inwood

DISTRICT #2
Clarion-Goldfield-Dows
Estherville Lincoln Central
OABCIG
Pocohontas Area
Southeast Valley, Gowrie
Spirit Lake

Class 1A DISTRICT #1
Emmetsburg
Ridge View
Sibley-Ocheyedan
Sioux Central, Sioux Rapids
West Sioux, Hawarden
Western Christian, Hull

Class A DISTRICT #1
Akron-Westfield
Alta-Aurelia
Gehlen Catholic, LeMars
Hinton
Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn
MMCRU
South O’Brien, Paullina

8-Player DISTRICT #1
Ar-We-Va, Westside
Glidden-Ralston
Kingsley-Pierson
Newell-Fonda
River Valley, Correctionville
Siouxland Christian
St. Mary’s, Remsen

2021-22 FORMAT & PLAYOFF QUALIFYING
Class 5A
Teams: 36
Groups: 6
Teams Per Group: 6
Playoff Qualifiers: 16
At-Large Berths: 16, RPI
Regular Season Games (Per Team): 9
Group Games (Per Team): 4
Assigned Games (Per Team): 1
Non-Group Games (Per Team): 4

Class 4A
Teams: 36
Districts: 6
Teams Per District: 6
Playoff Qualifiers: 16
Automatic Qualifiers: 12, top two per district
At-Large Berths: 4, RPI
Regular Season Games (Per Team): 9
District Games (Per Team): 5
Non-District Games (Per Team): 4

Class 3A
Teams: 36
Districts: 6
Teams Per District: 6
Playoff Qualifiers: 16
Automatic Qualifiers: 12, top two per district
At-Large Berths: 4, RPI
Regular Season Games (Per Team): 9
District Games (Per Team): 5
Non-District Games (Per Team): 4

Class 2A
Teams: 48
Districts: 8
Teams Per District: 6
Playoff Qualifiers: 32
Automatic Qualifiers: 32, top four per district
At-Large Berths: 0, no RPI
Regular Season Games (Per Team): 8
District Games (Per Team): 5
Non-District Games (Per Team): 3

Class 1A
Teams: 48
Districts: 8
Teams Per District: 6
Playoff Qualifiers: 32
Automatic Qualifiers: 32, top four per district
At-Large Berths: 0, no RPI
Regular Season Games (Per Team): 8
District Games (Per Team): 5
Non-District Games (Per Team): 3

Class A
Teams: 56
Districts: 8
Teams Per District: 7
Playoff Qualifiers: 32
Automatic Qualifiers: 32, top four per district
At-Large Berths: 0, no RPI
Regular Season Games (Per Team): 8
District Games (Per Team): 6
Non-District Games (Per Team): 2

Eight-Player
Teams: 72
Districts: 10
Teams Per District: 8 with 7 / 2 with 8
Playoff Qualifiers: 32
Automatic Qualifiers: 30, top three per district
At-Large Berths: 2, 17-point differential in district
Regular Season Games (Per Team): 8
District Games (Per Team): 6 / 7
Non-District Games (Per Team): 2 / 1