GAINESVILLE, FL – The Booker T. Washington Tornadoes of Miami erased a lot of doubt over the last two weeks winning in dominant fashion over Oscar Smith, VA and Tucker, GA. The Tornadoes which received 9 of 19 total first place votes, holds a 2-0 record going into Week 2. Booker T. Washington will face off against No 3. Miami Central on Friday night at Traz Powell Stadium in Miami.
Florida’s High School Football Top 25 is a weekly poll showcasing the Top 25 teams from around the state regardless of classification. The poll is voted on by sportswriters and sportscasters from around the Sunshine State, and is sponsored by FloridaHSFootball.com and FlaVarsity.com.
St. Thomas Aquinas which started the season ranked No. 4 has moved up two spots into the No. 2 season after defeating previous No. 3 American Heritage – Plantation, 38-7 in a season opening game at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens. The Raiders also received nine first place votes and will be off this week before traveling up to West Point, NY to take on Don Bosco Prep from New Jersey next week.
Miami Central, which has escaped narrow road victories at Hoover, AL and Stephenson, GA over the last two weeks slips from No. 2 to No. 3. The Rockets, which received one first place vote, will face a tough test this week as they take on No. 1 Booker T. Washington, which will have national title implications on the line.
Checking in at No. 4 is Miramar, which went on the road and won over unranked American Heritage of Delray Beach, 14-7. The Patriots will clash with another set of Patriots on Saturday afternoon as they host No. 7 American Heritage – Plantation.
Making its jump into the top five is Mainland, which is coming off a 41-0 road victory at rival DeLand on Friday night. The Buccaneers started No. 8 in the preseason Top 25.
Rounding out the top 10 includes Armwood, American Heritage-Plantation – which fell from No. 3 to No. 7 after a 38-7 loss to No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas – Cocoa, First Coast and Dr. Phillips.
Trinity Christian – Jacksonville which started the season at No. 6 fell to No. 11 after losing to Buford, GA on ESPN in 17-0. The Conquerors return to action this week, hoping to put a win up on the board at Warner Christian on Friday night.
Niceville which started the season at No. 12, stays put in the same position despite starting the season with a loss on ESPNU against Clay-Chalkville, AL. The Eagles made up for the loss with a 55-7 drubbing over Rutherford on Friday night.
Apopka, which shockingly lost to Oak Ridge, 28-23, feel from out of the Top 10 to No. 17 this week. The Blue Darters will host unranked Lake Brantley on Friday night.
Dwyer was the biggest mover this week falling from No. 11 to No. 22 after getting defeated at home by unranked Glades Central, 12-7.
Lakeland which received votes in the preseason poll is the only new team to check into the Top 25 this week as the Dreadnaughts come in at No. 25.
South Dade which was ranked No. 18 to start the preseason fell out of the Top 25 after suffering a 45-34 defeat to Columbus at Harris Field on Thursday night.
Florida’s #HSFB Top 25
Rank, Team, First Place Votes in parenthesis, record, points, previous – area teams in bold
1. Booker T. Washington (9) (4A), 2-0, 457, 1
2. St. Thomas Aquinas (9) (7A), 1-0, 456, 4
3. Miami Central (1) (6A), 2-0, 467, 2
4. Miramar (8A), 1-0, 389, 7
5. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (6A), 1-0, 382, 8
6. Armwood (6A), 1-0, 373, 5
7. American Heritage – Plantation (5A), 0-1, 305, 3
8. Cocoa (4A), 0-0, 299, 10
9. First Coast (Jacksonville) (8A), 1-0, 280, 14
10. Dr. Phillips (8A), 1-0, 276, 13
11. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (3A), 0-1, 265, 6
12. Niceville (7A), 1-1, 226, 12
13. Osceola – Kissimmee (7A), 1-0, 216, 16
14. Flanagan (8A), 1-0, 180, 19
T15. Bolles (Jacksonville) (4A), 1-0, 163, 17
T15. Coral Gables (8A), 1-0, 163, 20
17. Apopka (8A), 0-1, 145, 9
18. Plant (8A), 0-1, 131, 15
19. East Lake (7A), 1-0, 100, 21
20. Fort Pierce Central (8A), 1-0, 93, 23
21. Naples (6A), 1-0, 90, 25
22. Dwyer (7A), 0-1, 87, 11
23. Clay (Green Cove Springs) (5A), 1-0, 63, 24
24. Columbia (Lake City) (6A), 1-0, 59, 22
25. Lakeland (7A), 1-0, 50, NR
Dropped out: South Dade (8A, 0-1, No. 18)
Others Receiving Votes: Sickles (7A, 1-0) – 41; Miami Killian (8A, 1-0) – 33; Champagnat (2A, 1-0) – 32; South Dade (8A, 0-1) – 30; Fletcher (Neptune Beach) (7A, 1-0) – 28; Lake Wales (5A, 1-0) – 24; Boynton Beach (6A, 1-0) – 23; Westminster Christian (3A, 1-0) – 20; Oak Ridge (7A, 1-0) – 18; Palm Beach Gardens (8A, 1-0) – 16; Hallandale (6A, 1-0) – 16; Lake Mary (8A, 1-0) – 16; St. Augustine (6A, 1-0) – 15; Largo (6A, 1-0) – 14; Columbus (8A, 1-0) – 13; Trenton (1A, 1-0) – 13; Wakulla (5A, 1-0) – 12; Manatee (8A, 0-1) – 11; Lake Gibson (6A, 1-0) – 11; West Orange (8A, 1-0) – 10; Oviedo (8A, 1-0) – 10; Port Charlotte (7A, 1-0) – 8; South Sumter (Bushnell) (5A, 1-0) – 8; Merritt Island (5A, 1-0) – 8; Viera (7A, 1-0) – 5; Clearwater Central Catholic (3A, 1-0) – 5; Melbourne Central Catholic (3A, 1-0) – 5; Vero Beach (8A, 1-0) – 4; American Heritage-Delray (3A, 0-1) – 2; Venice (6A, 1-0) – 1; Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (3A, 0-0) – 1; Godby (5A, 0-1) – 1; Miami Norland (6A, 1-0) – 1; Victory Christian (2A, 1-0) – 1; Royal Palm Beach (7A, 1-0) – 1
