Thursday, 6:30 p.m. (PREGAME) – High School Football, 7 p.m. (KICKOFF)
Join Mike Ridaught (Play-by-play), Cam Parker (Color), and Marty Pallman (Color) for this city showdown from Citizen’s Field. Both teams enter with a record of 4-1.
Radio: “I am Country” 106.9 FM Gainesville
‘Live’ audio: https://streamdb6web.securenetsystems.net/cirrusencore/WPLL
Wednesday, Oct. 6 – “The Prep Zone” Sports Show (broadcast from Sonic Drive-In on 39th Avenue in Gainesville)
Radio: “I am Country” 106.9 FM Gainesville
Join Mike Ridaught & Marty Pallman as they talk high school sports. Guests for this episode include P.K. Yonge swimming coach Kara Dawson and members of the Blue Wave girls and boys swimming teams.
Friday, 7:15 p.m. (PREGAME) – High School Football, 7:30 p.m. (KICKOFF)
Join Nevada Cullen (Play-by-play) and Nick Anshultz (Color) for all the action from Citizen’s Field.
Friday, Oct. 1 – High School Football
Join Mike Ridaught (Play-by-play) & Cam Parker (Color) as the unbeaten Class 1A Hornets travel to Live Oak to face the Class 5A Bulldogs.
Radio: “I am Country” 106.9 FM Gainesville
Listen to the archive of the game.
We apologize for the archived audio issues at the beginning of the game.
Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) edges out fellow Northeast Florida private school Bolles (Jacksonville) for the 2nd week in a row, but the two teams will settle it on the field this week
GAINESVILLE — The 2021 high school football season has been a bit of a back-and-forth when it comes to the No. 1 team in The Prep Zone Power Poll.
Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) held the top spot the first two weeks but was passed up by Bolles (Jacksonville) in weeks three and four. Trinity Christian moved back to the top spot in last week’s poll.
While the Conquerors remain on top in the latest all-classification regional rankings, edging the Bulldogs by one point, the two teams will solve the issue tonight as they meet at Skinner-Barco Stadium at Bolles.
Trinity Christian (5-0), which is ranked No. 1 in the Class 2A state poll, cruised past No. 8 Columbia (Lake City), 26-13, on the road last Friday and received four of the seven first-place votes again this week.
Bolles (5-0) had no problem with then-No. 13 University Christian (Jacksonville) last week with a 31-0 home shutout. That enabled the Bulldogs to pick up the other three first-place votes this week as they were edged out for the top spot by one point.
Buchholz remains 3rd. The Bobcats (3-1) are coming off a bye and host Leon (Tallahassee) in their District 2-7A opener tonight.
Riverside (Jacksonville) stays 4th as well.
The Generals (5-0) blew out Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville), 42-6, to remain unbeaten. Riverside opens up District 3-6A play this week against Englewood (Jacksonville) before a showdown with Columbia next week.
Rounding out the top five are two teams tied for fifth in Bartram Trail (St. Johns) and Vanguard (Ocala).
The Bears (4-1) picked up their fourth win in a row over rival St. Augustine, 26-14. Bartram Trail is off this week.
With the loss, St. Augustine (2-2) dropped from 7th a week ago to No. 12 this week.
Vanguard went on the road and blew out county rival North Marion (Citra), 36-19. The Knights (4-0) stayed put as their district opener against Pasco (Dade City) was postponed due to COVID and Vanguard was awarded a forfeit victory.
Another unbeaten, Spruce Creek (Port Orange), is No. 7. The Hawks improved to 5-0 by blasting then-No. 19 Flagler Palm Coast, 40-7, last week.
After Columbia at No. 8 is 9th-ranked Creekside (St. Johns).
The Knights improved to 5-0 as they went on the road to defeat Chiles (Tallahassee), 35-21. This week Creekside opens District 1-8A play at home against Mandarin (Jacksonville).
Ed White (Jacksonville) rounds out the top 10.
The Commanders (3-0) had to hold on to beat First Coast (Jacksonville), 22-18, to stay unbeaten. Ed White opens up play in District 2-5A today at Paxon (Jacksonville).
Among the second 10, the team making the biggest move this week is University (Orange City).
The unbeaten Titans (4-0) knocked off Lake Brantley (Altamonte Springs), 33-20, and moved from the first team receiving votes a week ago to No. 14.
Also new to the rankings this week are 1A Union County (Lake Butler), which is 4-0 and now comes in at No. 18. The Villages (4-0) also moved into the poll in a tie for 19th with Clay (Green Cove Springs).
Dropping out for the previous poll were Lake Minneola, Mainland (Daytona Beach), which dropped to 1-3 with a loss to defending 8A state champion Seminole (Sanford), and Flagler Palm Coast.
The Prep Zone Power Poll ranks the top 20 high school football, girls basketball, boys basketball, softball & baseball teams (regardless of FHSAA classification) across 26 counties in North Florida (Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Citrus, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hernando, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Levy, Madison, Marion, Nassau, Putnam, Sumter, St. Johns, Suwannee, Taylor, Union & Volusia counties). It is voted on weekly by sportswriters and sportscasters and it is powered by Anytime Fitness of Gainesville.
THE PREP ZONE POWER POLL – 2021 FOOTBALL POLL #6
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, current record, and total voting points)
1. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (2A) (4) (5-0) – 137
2. Bolles (Jacksonville) (4A) (3) (5-0) – 136
3. Buchholz (Gainesville) (7A) (3-1) – 125
4. Riverside (Jacksonville) (6A) (5-0) – 113
5T. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (8A) (4-1) – 110
5T. Vanguard (Ocala) (6A) (4-0) – 110
7. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (7A) (5-0) – 99
8. Columbia (Lake City) (6A) (3-2) – 81
9. Creekside (St. Johns) (8A) (5-0) – 73
10. Ed White (Jacksonville) (5A) (3-0) – 72
11. Hawthorne (1A) (4-0) – 69
12. St. Augustine (6A) (2-2) – 66
13. Oakleaf (Orange Park) (8A) (3-2) – 55
14. University (Orange City) (7A) (4-0) – 29
15T. Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (5A) (3-2) – 28
15T. Madison County (1A) (3-2) – 28
17. University Christian (Jacksonville) (2A) (3-2) – 25
18. Union County (Lake Butler) (1A) (4-0) – 19
19T. Clay (Green Cove Springs) (5A) (2-2) – 15
19T. The Villages (4A) (4-0) – 15
Also receiving votes: Lake Minneola (Minneola) (6A) (2-2) – 14; Nease (Ponte Vedra) (7A) (4-1) – 13; Gainesville (6A) (4-1) – 9; Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (5A) (4-0) – 5; Wildwood (1A) (3-0) – 5; Mainland (Daytona Beach) (6A) (1-3) – 4; New Smyrna Beach (6A) (4-1) – 3; Keystone Heights (4A) (5-0) – 2.
Thursday, Sept. 30 – High School Football – North Marion (Citra) at Eastside (Gainesville)
Join Marty Pallman (Play-by-play) and Tyler TenBieg (Color) for this Alachua County vs. Marion County Class 5A-District 4 showdown from Citizen’s Field.
USA Today Florida Network (state football poll – Week #5)
Area teams in bold.
Class 8A
1. Venice 4-0 (8 first-place votes)
2. Seminole (Sanford) 5-0 (1 first-place vote)
3. Lake Mary 4-0
4. Treasure Coast 3-1
5. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) 4-1
6. Apopka 3-1
7. Vero Beach 3-1
8. Osceola (Kissimmee) 3-1
9. Riverview (Sarasota) 4-1
10. Deerfield Beach 3-2
ARV: Creekside (St. Johns), Western (Davie), West Orange (Winter Garden), Palm Beach Central (Wellington), Palmetto (Miami).
Class 7A
1. St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) 4-1 (6 first-place votes)
2. Dillard (Fort Lauderdale) 5-0 (3 first-place votes)
3. Niceville 5-0
4. Edgewater (Orlando) 4-1
5. Tampa Bay Tech 4-0
6. Buchholz (Gainesville) 3-1
7. Lakeland 4-1
8. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) 5-0
9. Armwood (Seffner) 4-1
10. Viera 3-1
ARV: University (Orange City), Doral Academy, Gaither (Tampa), Nease (Ponta Vedra), Martin County (Stuart).
Class 6A
1. Jesuit (Tampa) 5-0 (8 first-place votes)
2. Miami Northwestern 4-1 (1 first-place vote)
3. Riverside (Jacksonville) 5-0
4. Naples 4-0
5. Jones (Orlando) 3-2
6. Dunbar (Fort Myers) 3-0
7. Mosley (Lynn Haven) 5-0
8. Hillsborough (Tampa) 2-2
9. Rickards (Tallahassee) 3-1
10. Vanguard (Ocala) 4-0
ARV: Auburndale, Pinellas Park (Largo), South Fort Myers, Lake Wales, Columbia (Lake City).
Class 5A
1. Miami Central 2-2 (9 first-place votes)
2. American Heritage (Plantation) 1-2
3. Miami Killian 5-0
4. Rockledge 4-0
5. West Florida (Pensacola) 4-0
6. Raines (Jacksonville) 2-2
7. Satellite (Satellite Beach) 5-0
8. Zephyrhills 4-0
9. Ed White (Jacksonville) 3-0
10. Clearwater 4-1
ARV: Baker County (Glen St. Mary), Merritt Island, Stranahan (Fort Lauderdale), Terry Parker (Jacksonville), Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville).
Class 4A
1. Cardinal Gibbons (Fort Lauderdale) 4-0 (8 first-place votes)
2. Cocoa 3-1 (1 first-place vote)
3. Gulliver Prep (Miami) 4-0
4. Bolles (Jacksonville) 5-0
5. Lakewood (St. Peterburg) 5-0
ARV: Booker T. Washington (Miami), The Villages Charter, Glades Central (Belle Glade), LaSalle (Miami), Lemon Bay (Englewood).
Class 3A
1. Chaminade-Madonna (Hollywood) 3-1 (9 first-place votes)
2. Miami Edison 2-1
3. Berkeley Prep (Tampa) 4-0
4. Clearwater Central Catholic 4-1
5. Florida High (Tallahassee) 4-1
ARV: Lakeland Christian, Florida Christian (Miami), Tampa Catholic, Trinity Catholic (Ocala), Benjamin (Palm Beach Gardens).
Class 2A
1. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) 5-0 (9 first-place votes)
2. Champagnat Catholic (Hialeah) 3-1
3. First Baptist (Naples) 4-0
4. Munroe (Quincy) 5-0
5. University Christian (Jacksonville) 3-2
ARV: Foundation Academy (Winter Garden), Holy Trinity (Melbourne), Dade Christian (Miami), Orlando Christian Prep, Community School of Naples.
Class 1A
1. Baker 3-0 (7 first-place votes)
2. Madison County 3-2 (2 first-place votes)
3. Wildwood 3-0
4. Hawthorne 4-0
5. Union County (Lake Butler) 4-0
ARV: Port St. Joe, Blountstown, Pahokee, Hilliard, Fort Meade.
Nationally ranked Ponte Vedra remains unbeaten and stays unanimous No. 1 team in regional rankings
GAINESVILLE — The beat goes on for the Ponte Vedra Sharks.
Ponte Vedra, which won the last two 5A state titles and is now the top-ranked team in 6A, as well as being ranked 3rd nationally by Max Preps, extended its winning streak to 49 games dating back to 2019 in improving to 13-0 this season.
The Sharks knocked off Merritt Island and No. 3 Santa Fe (Alachua) in a tough five-setter to keep the winning streak alive, and they received all five first-place votes in the all-classification regional rankings.
Trinity Catholic remains 2nd in The Prep Zone Power Poll.
The defending 3A state champion Celtics (13-2), who are ranked No. 9 overall in Florida by Max Preps, have won six in a row. In the past few weeks Trinity Catholic knocked off 5A Vanguard (Ocala), 6A Buchholz (Gainesville), 6A Leon (Tallahassee), and Bishop Moore (Orlando).
Santa Fe remains No. 3 despite the five-set loss at Ponte Vedra.
The Raiders (14-3) remain ranked No. 1 in 4A according to Max Preps and picked up wins the past few weeks over then-RV Oak Hall (Gainesville) and No. 20-T Gainesville.
Mandarin (Jacksonville) moves up two spots to 4th.
The Mustangs (16-1), who are the 3rd-ranked team in 7A, dropped their first game of the season to Chiles (Tallahassee), but picked up seven more wins over the past two weeks including at #8 Creekside (St. Johns), Master’s Academy (Oviedo), Lincoln (Tallahassee) and No. 20-T Fletcher (Neptune Beach).
Forest (Ocala) drops a spot but rounds out the top five.
The Wildcats (9-3) dropped a game to 6A rival Leon but also won games against Buchholz and Vanguard.
Defending 4A state champion Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) drops two slots to 6th this week.
The Crusaders (10-5), ranked 4th in 4A, won at Nease (Ponte Vedra) and defeated No. 18 Middleburg, but lost in three sets to 7th-ranked Bartram Trail (St. Johns).
Bartram Trail is right behind Bishop Kenny this week at No. 7. The Bears (8-4), who are ranked 22nd statewide by MaxPreps, moved up three spots this week.
Creekside, 9th-ranked Weeki Wachee, and No. 10 Providence (Jacksonville) round out the top 10 this week.
New to the poll this week are Middleburg, No. 14 Ridgeview (Orange Park), Fletcher and St. Johns Country Day (Orange Park). The latter two teams are tied for 20th with Gainesville.
Dropping out from last week are No. 16 Episcopal (Jacksonville) and No. 19 Yulee, which are both receiving votes.
The Prep Zone Power Poll ranks the top 20 high school football, volleyball, girls basketball, boys basketball, baseball and softball teams (regardless of FHSAA Classification) across 26 counties in North Florida (Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Citrus, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hernando, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Levy, Madison, Marion, Nassau, Putnam, Sumter, St. Johns, Suwannee, Taylor, Union and Volusia counties). It is voted on weekly by sportswriters and sportscasters and it is powered by Anytime Fitness of Gainesville.
The Prep Zone Power Poll – 2021 Volleyball Poll #2
(School, city, classification, first-place votes, current record through 9/25, and total voting points)
1. Ponte Vedra (5A) (5) (13-0) – 100
2. Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (3A) (12-2) – 94
3. Santa Fe (Alachua) (4A) (14-3) – 90
4. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (7A) (16-1) – 84
5. Forest (Ocala) (6A) (9-3) – 79
6. Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (4A) (10-5) – 69
7. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (7A) (8-4) – 68
8. Creekside (St. Johns) (7A) (10-3) – 62
9. Weeki Wachee (4A) (11-3) – 55
10. Providence (Jacksonville) (3A) (14-4) – 54
11. New Smyrna Beach (6A) (12-4) – 44
12. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (3A) (10-4) – 41
13. The Villages (4A) (10-1) – 40
14. Ridgeview (Orange Park) (5A) (10-5) – 36
15. Aucilla Christian (Monticello) (2A) (10-0) – 23
16. DeLand (7A) (11-8) – 20
17. Christ’s Church (Jacksonville) (2A) (8-4) – 19
18. Middleburg (5A) (11-8) – 14
19. Newberry (1A) (10-6) – 13
20T. Fletcher (Neptune Beach) (6A) (10-7) – 10
20T. Gainesville (6A) (11-7) – 10
20T. St. Johns Country Day (Orange Park) (2A) (8-2) – 10
Receiving votes: Episcopal (Jacksonville) (3A) (11-7) – 6; Yulee (4A) (9-7) – 6; St. John Lutheran (Ocala) (2A) (10-3) – 3; Clay (Green Cove Springs) (5A) (10-7) – 1; Taylor (Pierson) (1A) (10-2) – 1.
A total of four area high school football teams are still undefeated heading into the month of October – Chiefland, Keystone Heights, Union County and Hawthorne.
Chiefland (4-0) is coming off a bye week last week and will host rival Trenton for the annual Border War this Friday night. The Indians have outscored their opponents 161-53 in their opening four games.
In Chiefland’s most recent win, 14-7 over Dixie County, its defense forced five turnovers.
“Kids have bought into being physical and playing with effort,” said Chiefland coach Adam Gore. “Them being coachable along with their God-given talents have been a good combination for us. We have a really young team, but they want to get better each week and that’s really helped us.”
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Wednesday, Sept. 29 – “The Prep Zone” Sports Show (broadcast from Sonic Drive-In on 39th Avenue in Gainesville)
Join Mike Ridaught as he talks high school sports. Guests for this episode include Bell volleyball coach Drue Barry and members of the Lady Bulldogs’ volleyball team.
Radio: “I am Country” 106.9 FM Gainesville
