Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) and Mainland (Daytona Beach) remain 1-2 in the final regular season regional rankings
Gainesville – The top two teams in the Prep Zone Power Poll remained the same heading into the FHSAA state football playoffs.
Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) is ranked No. 1 after receiving nine of the 10 first-place votes.
The Conquerors (10-0) defeated 6A Pine Forest (Pensacola) in the regular season finale to remain No. 1. Trinity Christian, which went wire-to-wire during the regular season as the top-ranked team in Class 3A, opens up defense of its back-to-back state titles on Friday against Pensacola Catholic.
Class 6A Mainland (Daytona Beach), which was off last week, remained second. The Bucs (9-1), who will host Sebastian River, collected the other first-place vote.
Columbia (Lake City) has inched its way closer to the top of the regional rankings. The Tigers (9-1) crushed previous No. 13 Suwannee (Live Oak), 45-7, and moved up one spot to third. They will host Chiles (Tallahassee) in the opening round of the 7A state playoffs.
Previous No. 3 Raines (Jacksonville) lost to rival Ribault (Jacksonville), 19-14, and dropped five spots to eighth.
The Vikings (9-1) will host Rutherford (Panama City) in 4A, while the Trojans (6-4), who received one vote in this week’s poll, will visit Ponte Vedra in 5A. The host Sharks (8-2) are also receiving votes.
Rounding out the top five are Class 5A North Marion (Citra) and 8A Mandarin (Jacksonville).
The Colts (9-1) bounced back in a big way after losing at nationally-ranked Hoover (AL). North Marion defeated Lake Weir (Ocala), 74-6, setting a county record for the most points in one quarter (53) and they tied the school record for the most points in a game.
The Mustangs (10-0) went undefeated for the first time in school history.
Buchholz (Gainesville) is ranked sixth. The Bobcats (9-1), who won their first district title in 11 years, will host Edgewater (Orlando) in Class 7A.
Class 4A No. 1 Dunnellon is next at No. 7. The Tigers (10-0), ranked No. 1 for the first time since 1980, are at home against Bradford (Starke) in the regional semifinals.
Raines, Bolles (Jacksonville) (8-2) and St. Augustine (9-1) round out the top 10.
Class 1A Trenton, which was the first school in state history to invoke the running clock on all 10 regular season foes, is one of five undefeated teams in the rankings. The 11th-ranked Tigers (10-0) will host Fort Meade in a 1-2 showdown in Class 1A, while unbeaten
Nature Coast (Brooksville) (10-0), which is ranked 12th, will host Zephyrhills in 5A.
Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (7-3), which defeated previous No. 17 Nease (Ponte Vedra), 27-14, and Madison County (7-3), which defeated 5A Baker County (Glen St. Mary) and has won seven in a row since losses at 5A Rickards (Tallahassee), at Brooks County (GA) & vs. 5A Wakulla (Crawfordville) – all playoff teams, enter the poll at Nos. 17 & 18 respectively.
Oakleaf (Orange Park), which has gone 18-2 the past two seasons but did not qualify for the postseason this year in Class 7A, is tied for 20th with University (Orange City), which qualified for the 8A state playoffs but was disqualified because of an ineligible player.
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 #12
(School, followed by first-place votes, classification, current record, and total voting points)
1. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (9) (3A) (10-0) – 199
2. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (1) (6A) (9-1) – 191
3. Columbia (Lake City) (7A) (9-1) – 178
4. North Marion (Citra) (5A) (9-1) – 172
5. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (8A) (10-0) – 150
6. Buchholz (Gainesville) (7A) (9-1) – 148
7. Dunnellon (4A) (10-0) – 138
8. Raines (Jacksonville) (4A) (9-1) – 134
9. Bolles (Jacksonville) (4A) (8-2) – 112
10. St. Augustine (6A) (9-1) – 103
11. Trenton (1A) (10-0) – 99
12. Nature Coast Tech (Brooksville) (5A) (10-0) – 98
13. Vanguard (Ocala) (6A) (8-2) – 88
14. South Sumter (Bushnell) (4A) (8-2) – 62
15. Suwannee (Live Oak) (5A) (7-2) – 48
16. Sandalwood (Jacksonville) (8A) (8-2) – 46
17. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (7A) (7-3) – 28
18T Fort White (1A) (8-2) – 22
18T Madison County (1A) (7-3) – 22
20T University (Orange City) (8A) (8-2) – 15
20T Oakleaf (Orange Park) (7A) (8-2) – 15
Also receiving votes: Ponte Vedra (5A) (8-2) – 12; Clay (Green Cove Springs) (5A) (7-3) – 7; Nease (Ponte Vedra) (6A) (7-3) – 5; Santa Fe (Alachua) (4A) (6-3) – 4; Lee (Jacksonville) (7A) (7-3) – 2; Deltona (6A) (6-3) – 1; Ribault (Jacksonville) (4A) (6-4) – 1.
