North Marion (Citra) and Bolles (Jacksonville) fall but remain in the top 10; no teams fell out of this week’s regional rankings
Gainesville – Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) remained on top of the Prep Zone Power Poll.
The Class 3A Conquerors (9-0) received 10 of the 11 first-place votes following a 52-7 win over Episcopal (Jacksonville). They host 6A Pine Forest (Pensacola) this week, and will open up defense of their back-to-back state titles next Friday at home against Pensacola Catholic.
Mainland (Daytona) remained second and received the other first-place vote after a 35-0 win Seabreeze (Daytona Beach). The Bucs (9-1) have concluded their regular season and open up the 6A state playoffs at home next week against Sebastian River.
Raines (Jacksonville) knocked off previous No. 7 Bolles (Jacksonville), 35-30, to win the 4A-District 2 title.
The Vikings (9-0), who play rival Ribault (Jacksonville) on Saturday, moved up one spot to third following North Marion’s (Citra) loss at state-ranked Hoover (AL), 38-14. The Bulldogs (8-2), who have been to the 4A state title game four years in a row, dropped two spots to ninth.
The Class 5A Colts (8-1) dropped two spots to fifth following their first loss of the season, while previous No. 5 Columbia (Lake City) (8-1) moved up one spot to fourth following a 31-12 win over First Coast (Jacksonville).
Buchholz (Gainesville) (8-1) is ranked sixth, followed by Mandarin (Jacksonville) (9-0), Dunnellon (9-0), Bolles and St. Augustine (8-1) in the top 10.
The top eight teams in the poll were district champions, along with Trenton (9-0) and Nature Coast (Brooksville) (9-0), who are tied for 11th, #13 Suwannee (Live Oak), #14 Vanguard (Ocala), #17 Nease (Ponte Vedra) and No. 20 Fort White.
No teams fell out of this week’s regional rankings, however previous No. 8 Oakleaf (Orange Park) tumbled 10 spots to 18th following a 37-34 loss to Bartram Trail (St. Johns) which eliminated them from postseason consideration in Class 7A.
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, Madison, Marion, Nassau, Putnam, Sumter, St. Johns, Suwannee, Taylor, Union & Volusia counties). It is voted on weekly by sportswriters and sportscasters.
Prep Zone Power Poll – 2015 Football Poll #11
(School, followed by first-place votes, classification, current record, and total voting points)
1. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (10) (3A) (9-0) – 219
2. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (1) (6A) (9-1) – 209
3. Raines (Jacksonville) (4A) (9-0) – 198
4. Columbia (Lake City) (7A) (8-1) – 184
5. North Marion (Citra) (5A) (8-1) – 174
6. Buchholz (Gainesville) (7A) (8-1) – 168
7. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (8A) (9-0) – 154
8. Dunnellon (4A) (9-0) – 133
9. Bolles (Jacksonville) (4A) (8-2) – 114
10. St. Augustine (6A) (8-1) – 113
11T Trenton (1A) (9-0) – 103
11T Nature Coast Tech (Brooksville) (5A) (9-0) – 103
13. Suwannee (Live Oak) (5A) (7-1) – 94
14. Vanguard (Ocala) (6A) (7-2) – 80
15. University (Orange City) (8A) (8-2) – 54
16. South Sumter (Bushnell) (4A) (8-2) – 47
17. Nease (Ponte Vedra) (6A) (7-2) – 41
18. Oakleaf (Orange Park) (7A) (7-2) – 30
19. Sandalwood (Jacksonville) (8A) (7-2) – 23
20. Fort White (1A) (7-2) – 20
Also receiving votes: Madison County (1A) (6-3) – 18; Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (7A) (6-3) – 13; Santa Fe (Alachua) (4A) (6-2) – 9; Ponte Vedra (5A) (7-2) – 4; Clay (Green Cove Springs) (5A) (6-3) – 3; Deltona (6A) (6-3) – 1; Lee (Jacksonville) (7A) (6-3) – 1.
