Not much change in the regional rankings after busy week of football
GAINESVILLE — In the week following Hurricane Irma, Friday night was once again a very quiet night for high school football, with cancellations and games being rescheduled for earlier this week.
But one of the biggest games in the area this season was played last Friday night, and Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) won a long-awaited showdown with Bolles (Jacksonville), rallying in the 4th quarter to win 40-28 in a District 4-5A game.
The win for the Conquerors (3-1) keeps them atop The Prep Zone Power Poll for another week, as Trinity Christian received seven of the eight first-place votes after the win over Bolles (2-1), which drops from 8th a week ago to out of the top 10 at #11 this week.
Robert E. Lee (Jacksonville) won the other big game of the week, pounding then-#6 Columbia (Lake City) in the District 2-7A opener for both on Tuesday night in Jacksonville. The win moved the Generals (4-0) past Bartram Trail (St. Johns) and back into the #2 spot.
Bartram Trail (2-1) was scheduled to play Oakleaf (Orange Park) last week but the game was rescheduled for October 6. The Bears, who received the other first-place vote, have a huge St. Johns County match-up tonight against #9 St. Augustine. Bartram Trail has never beaten St. Augustine in 18 tries.
Vanguard (Ocala) remains 4th as their game at Lakewood (St. Petersburg) was canceled last week. The Knights (3-0) open District 5-6A play tonight at Booster Stadium against South Lake (Groveland).
Rounding out the top five is Mainland (Daytona Beach). The Bucs (1-1) haven’t played in three weeks and have a tough match-up coming up this week at 8A #2 Dr. Phillips (Orlando).
Raines (Jacksonville) leads off the second five. The Vikings (2-1) had a bye week during Irma and return to action against Mandarin (Jacksonville) tonight.
Moving up three spots this week to #7 is Madison County. The Cowboys (4-0) posted a big 54-22 win at Williston last Saturday, and tonight have a huge game against #8 Columbia. The Tigers (3-1) fell two spots after their loss at Lee on Tuesday and now turn right around three days later with a difficult trip to Boot Hill.
St. Augustine (2-0), which hosts No. 3 Bartram Trail tonight, moves up two spots despite having it’s last two games at #12 Ponte Vedra and #T-18 Flagler Palm Coast canceled. The Yellow Jackets will make up the game against Ponte Vedra but the Flagler Palm Coast game will not be made up.
Rounding out the top 10 is University Christian (Jacksonville). The Christians (4-0) game at Coffee (GA) was canceled and will not be made up.
New to the poll this week is 1A Lafayette (Mayo), which is 20th after improving to 4-0 with a win over Jefferson County (Monticello) last Saturday. Dropping out is Fort White, which lost its first game of the season, 27-16, at Taylor County (Perry).
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 Central 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. It is fueled by Divine Power Wear.
The Prep Zone Power Poll fueled by Divine Power Wear – 2017 Football Poll #5
(School, followed by classification, first place votes, overall record, and total voting points)
1. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (5A) (7) (3-1) – 159
2. Robert E. Lee (Jacksonville) (7A) (4-0) – 149
3. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (7A) (1) (2-1) – 148
4. Vanguard (Ocala) (6A) (3-0) – 135
5. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (6A) (1-1) – 129
6. Raines (Jacksonville) (5A) (2-1) – 119
7. Madison County (1A) (4-0) – 105
8. Columbia (Lake City) (7A) (3-1) – 91
9. St. Augustine (6A) (2-0) – 86
10. University Christian (Jacksonville) (2A) (4-0) – 84
11. Bolles (Jacksonville) (5A) (2-1) – 82
12. Ponte Vedra (5A) (2-0) – 78
13. Fleming Island (Orange Park) (7A) (4-0) – 74
14. Dunnellon (4A) (3-0) – 56
15. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (8A) (3-0) – 55
16. Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (5A) (3-0) – 30
17. Nature Coast (Brooksville) (5A) (1-0) – 26
T-18. Dixie County (Cross City) (1A) (4-0) – 20
T-18. Flagler Palm Coast (8A) (2-0) – 20
20. Lafayette (Mayo) (1A) (4-0) – 9
Also receiving votes: Forest (Ocala) (6A) (3-0) – 6; Ridgeview (Orange Park) (5A) (4-0) – 6; Fort White (3A) (3-1) – 5; Union County (Lake Butler) (1A) (3-1) – 4; Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (5A) (3-1) – 1; Taylor County (Perry) (3A) (2-1) – 1.
