It is time for Week 9 of high school football in the state of Iowa for the 2026 season.
The final week of the regular season involves potentially exciting games featuring teams from the metro. This week is headlined by Class 4A No. 7 Ballard at No. 3 Carlisle and 5A No. 6 Indianola at Urbandale.
Ballard's Blakely Carlson and Carlisle's Hayden Schulte are the top two receivers in 2A District 5. Carlisle's rushing attack and potent defense could prove to be the difference, but if it comes down to the wire Ballard features one of the state's best kickers in Sam Hoffman.
Indianola heads into Week 9 on a six-game winning streak. The Indians feature an excellent quarterback in Nolan Freeman and a balanced receiving corps.
Urbandale has won its last five games. The J-Hawks feature a stout defense that just posted a shutout against Norwalk, and quarterback Landon Rinnan is a dual-threat weapon with 1,266 yards and 13 touchdowns passing and 790 yards and 12 scores on the ground.
Other top metro games involving 5A schools include: No. 1 Johnston at Des Moines Roosevelt, Des Moines East at No. 2 Southeast Polk, Marshalltown at No. 3 Dowling Catholic, Council Bluffs Lincoln at No. 4 Ankeny, No. 7 Valley at Des Moines Lincoln, Norwalk at No. 8 Waukee Northwest, No. 9 Waukee at Waterloo West and Cedar Rapids Kennedy at No. 10 Dallas Center-Grimes.
In 4A, No. 10 North Polk hosts Gilbert, and in 3A No. 3 Des Moines Christian hosts Winterset.
The playoffs for Classes 2A, 1A, A and 8-player football begin on Oct. 23.
In the 2A first round, No. 2 Van Meter hosts Albia and Grand View Christian is at Roland-Story. In Class A, Martensdale St. Marys is at ACGC.
Iowa high school football schedule for Week 9
Home team listed first
Thursday, Oct. 22
- AGWSR vs Colfax-Mingo, 7 p.m.
- Cedar Rapids Washington vs Waterloo East, 7 p.m.
- Camanche vs Durant, 6:30 p.m.
- Davenport West vs Clinton, 7 p.m.
- Des Moines Lincoln vs Valley, 7 p.m.
- Forest City vs Estherville-Lincoln Central, 6:30 p.m.
- Sioux City East vs Ames, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 23
- Ankeny vs Lincoln, 7 p.m.
- Atlantic vs Carroll, 7:30 p.m.
- Benton vs Iowa Falls-Alden, 7:30 p.m.
- Bishop Heelan vs Algona, 7 p.m.
- Bondurant-Farrar vs D.M. North, 7:30 p.m.
- Boone vs Glenwood, 7:30 p.m.
- Carlisle vs Ballard, 7 p.m.
- Cedar Rapids Jefferson vs Cedar Falls, 7 p.m.
- Center Point-Urbana vs Central DeWitt, 7:30 p.m.
- Central Lyon vs Southeast Valley, 7 p.m.
- Charles City vs Independence, 7:30 p.m.
- Council Bluffs Jefferson vs Lewis Central, 7 p.m.
- Creston vs Perry, 7:30 p.m.
- Dallas Center-Grimes vs Kennedy, 7 p.m.
- Davenport North vs North Scott, 7:30 p.m.
- Denison-Schleswig vs ADM, 7:30 p.m.
- Des Moines Christian vs Winterset, 7:30 p.m.
- Dowling vs Marshalltown, 7 p.m.
- Fort Dodge vs S.C. West, 7 p.m.
- Greene County vs Harlan, 7:30 p.m.
- Hempstead vs Bettendorf, 7 p.m.
- Humboldt vs Sioux Center, 7 p.m.
- Kuemper vs Unity Christian, 7 p.m.
- Lincoln vs Valley, 7 p.m.
- Linn-Mar vs Iowa City West, 7 p.m.
- Maquoketa vs Wahlert, 7 p.m.
- Marion vs Newton, 7:30 p.m.
- Mid-Prairie vs Chariton, 7 p.m.
- Montezuma vs North Tama, 7 p.m.
- Mt Pleasant vs Fairfield, 7 p.m.
- Mt Vernon vs Assumption, 7 p.m.
- Muscatine vs Liberty, 7 p.m.
- Nevada vs Knoxville, 7 p.m.
- North Polk vs Gilbert, 7 p.m.
- Oskaloosa vs Clear Creek-Amana, 7:30 p.m.
- Ottumwa vs Iowa City, 7 p.m.
- Pella vs Grinnell, 7:30 p.m.
- Pleasant Valley vs Davenport Central, 7 p.m.
- Prairie vs Dubuque Senior, 8 p.m.
- Riverside vs Earlham, 7 p.m.
- Roosevelt vs Johnston, 7 p.m.
- S.C North vs Centennial, 7 p.m.
- Saydel vs Williamsburg, 7:30 p.m.
- Sergeant Bluff-Luton vs Spencer, 7 p.m.
- Solon vs Fort Madison, 7 p.m.
- Southeast Polk vs D.M. East, 7 p.m.
- Storm Lake vs Le Mars, 7 p.m.
- Urbandale vs Indianola, 7 p.m.
- Washington vs Keokuk, 7 p.m.
- Washington vs Waterloo East, 7:30 p.m.
- Waterloo West vs Waukee, 7 p.m.
- Waukee Northwest vs Norwalk, 7 p.m.
- Waverly-Shell Rock vs Decorah, 7:30 p.m.
- Webster City vs MOC-Floyd Valley, 7 p.m.
- West Delaware vs Clear Lake, 7 p.m.
- Western Dubuque vs Burlington, 7:30 p.m.
- Xavier vs Mason City, 7:30 p.m.
Class 2A playoffs
- Alburnett vs Vinton-Shellsburg, 7 p.m.
- Centerville vs West Burlington/Notre Dame, 7 p.m.
- Clarinda vs Pella Christian, 7 p.m.
- CL/GLR vs Southeast Valley, 7 p.m.
- Crestwood vs Hampton-Dumont-CAL, 7 p.m.
- Dike-New Hartford vs New Hampton, 7 p.m.
- Kuemper Catholic vs Unity Christian, 7 p.m.
- Mid-Prairie vs Chariton, 7 p.m.
- PCM vs West Liberty, 7 p.m.
- Roland-Story vs Grand View Christian, 7 p.m.
- Spirit Lake vs Cherokee, 7 p.m.
- Van Meter vs Albia, 7 p.m.
- Waukon vs Bellevue, 7 p.m.
- West Branch vs Osage, 7 p.m.
- Western Christian vs OABCIG, 7 p.m.
- Wilton vs Anamosa, 7 p.m.
Class 1A playoffs
- Aplington-Parkersburg vs Eagle Grove, 7 p.m.
- Beckman Catholic vs Sumner-Fredericksburg, 7 p.m.
- Clarion-Goldfield-Dows vs MFL MarMac, 7 p.m.
- Emmetsburg vs Hinton, 7 p.m.
- EBF vs Pleasantville, 7 p.m.
- Grundy Center vs Cascade, 7 p.m.
- Hudson vs Sigourney/Keota, 7 p.m.
- Interstate 35 vs. Shenandoah, 7 p.m.
- Northeast vs. Cardinal, 7 p.m.
- Regina vs. Columbus Catholic, 7 p.m.
- Ridge View vs South Hardin, 7 p.m.
- South Central Calhoun vs Lawton-Bronson, 7 p.m.
- Treynor vs West Central Valley, 7 p.m.
- Underwood vs East Sac County, 7 p.m.
- West Lyon vs Tri-Center, 7 p.m.
- West Marshall vs Manson NW Webster, 7 p.m.
Class A playoffs
- ACGC vs Martensdale-St. Marys, 7 p.m.
- Danville vs Maquoketa Valley, 7 p.m.
- East Buchanan vs Columbus Community, 7 p.m.
- Lynnville-Sully vs Mount Ayr, 7 p.m.
- Madrid vs Southwest Valley, 7 p.m.
- MMCRU vs West Monona, 7 p.m.
- Nashua-Plainfield vs West Hancock, 7 p.m.
- Newman Catholic vs Starmont, 7 p.m.
- North Linn vs Van Buren County, 7 p.m.
- Pekin vs Wapsie Valley, 7 p.m.
- Riverside vs Earlham, 7 p.m.
- Saint Ansgar vs Belmond-Klemme, 7 p.m.
- St. Albert vs Gehlen Catholic, 7 p.m.
- West Fork vs North Butler, 7 p.m.
- West Sioux vs Logan-Magnolia, 7 p.m.
- Woodbury Central vs Sibley-Ocheyedan, 7 p.m.
Eight-Player playoffs
- Audubon vs East Union, 7 p.m.
- Bedford vs Fremont-Mills, 7 p.m.
- Bishop Garrigan vs GTRA, 7 p.m.
- Coon Rapids-Bayard vs English Valleys, 7 p.m.
- Don Bosco vs Moravia, 7 p.m.
- Edgewood-Colesburg vs WACO, 7 p.m.
- Gladbrook-Reinbeck vs Springville, 7 p.m.
- Iowa Valley vs Wayne, 7 p.m.
- Kee vs Riceville, 7 p.m.
- Kingsley-Pierson vs CAM, 7 p.m.
- Montezuma vs North Tama, 7 p.m.
- North Union vs Janesville, 7 p.m.
- Southeast Warren vs Lenox, 7 p.m.
- St. Mary's, Remsen vs Boyer Valley, 7 p.m.
- Turkey Valley vs Clarksville, 7 p.m.
- Woodbine vs Murray, 7 p.m.
Joe Randleman covers high school sports for the Ames Tribune. Contact him at jrandleman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JoeRandleman
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa high school football schedule Week 9: Every IHSAA game