Gainesville – For the third consecutive week, there is a different team on top of the Prep Zone Power Poll.
Fletcher (Neptune Beach) became the latest top-ranked victim following the Senators’ (5-2) loss at Class 7A-District 3 foe Fleming Island (Orange Park), 28-14, on Thursday. The previous week, 6A Columbia (Lake City), which was off this past week, suffered its first defeat at Ed White (Jacksonville) (6-1), which defeated Lee (Jacksonville), 84-0, on Friday and moved up three spots to eighth.
With the loss, Fletcher dropped eight spots to No. 9 following its second loss, while the Golden Eagles (7-0) moved up four spots to No. 4. Columbia (6-1) dropped one spot to sixth in this week’s poll.
That paves the way for South Sumter (Bushnell), which began the season ranked No. 13 but has slowly moved to the top of the poll. Following a 51-20 win against Nature Coast (Brooksville), the Raiders (8-0), who received three of the seven first-place votes, have now won 18 of their past 19 games.
Class 8A First Coast (Jacksonville), which was ranked No. 1 in the preseason, moved up one spot to second following a 35-34 win in overtime at Flagler Palm Coast. The Bucs (6-1), whose only loss was at No. 10 Raines (5-2) in OT, received two first-place votes.
Mainland (Daytona Beach) and Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) each received one first-place vote and are ranked third and fifth, respectively. The Buccaneers (7-1) defeated New Smyrna Beach, 14-13 (OT), and moved up one spot from fourth, while the Conquerors (6-1) handed IMG Academy (Bradenton) its first loss, 27-24, and moved up one spot from sixth – just ahead of Columbia.
Following Columbia in the second five is Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (6-0) at No. 7, Ed White, Fletcher and Raines – which is tied with Sandalwood (Jacksonville) (6-1) for 10th.
There are two games involving top 20 teams this week as No. 13 Gainesville hosts unbeaten Citrus (Inverness), which is tied with GHS (6-1) for 13th, and #20 Suwannee (Live Oak), which moved into the top 20 for the first time this season, is at No. 18 Fort White, which kept Madison County out of the playoffs for the first time since 1994 following a 19-13 win last week.
The Prep Zone Power Poll ranks the top 20 high school football, basketball, baseball & 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, Marion, Nassau, Putnam, Sumter, St. Johns, Suwannee, Taylor, Union & Volusia counties). It is voted on weekly by sportswriters and sportscasters.
PREP ZONE POWER POLL – 2013 FOOTBALL POLL #9
(School, followed by first-place votes, classification, record and total voting points)
1. South Sumter (Bushnell) (3) (5A) (8-0) – 132
2. First Coast (Jacksonville) (2) (8A) (6-1) – 129
3. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (1) (6A) (7-1) – 125
4. Fleming Island (Orange Park) (7A) (7-0) – 120
5. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (1) (3A) (6-1) – 113
6. Columbia (Lake City) (6A) (6-1) – 103
7. Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (5A) (6-0) – 96
8. Ed White (Jacksonville) (6A) (6-1) – 89
9. Fletcher (Neptune Beach) (3) (7A) (5-2) – 87
T10 Raines (Jacksonville) (4A) (5-2) – 79
T10 Sandalwood (Jacksonville) (8A) (6-1) – 79
12. St. Augustine (6A) (6-1) – 59
T13 Gainesville (6A) (6-1) – 56
T13 Citrus (Inverness) (6A) (7-0) – 56
15. Bolles (Jacksonville) (4A) (5-2) – 34
16. Dixie County (Cross City) (1A) (5-0) – 32
17. University Christian (Jacksonville) (2A) (5-2) – 23
18. Fort White (4A) (5-0) – 21
19. Seabreeze (Daytona Beach) (6A) (5-1) – 16
20. Suwannee (Live Oak) (5A) (5-1) – 6
Also receiving votes: Warner Christian (South Daytona) (2A) (6-1) – 5; North Marion (Sparr) (5A) (5-2) – 3; Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (3A) (5-3) – 3; Ribault (Jacksonville) (5A) (5-2) – 3; Chiefland (1A) (6-1) – 1.
