Very little change in top 10 as Bartram Trail (St. Johns) continues unanimous hold on #1 ranking
GAINESVILLE — There have been scattered outbreaks of COVID-19 from time to time, but the high school football season has made it to the final week of the regular season and the beginning of the postseason for some teams this week.
And for the Bartram Trail (St. Johns) Bears, the beat goes on as they remain at the top of The Prep Zone Power Poll for another week.
Bartram Trail (7-1) knocked off then-RV Sandalwood (Jacksonville), 28-13, and received all nine first-place votes to remain the top-ranked team in the all-classification rankings for the fifth straight week. The Bears close out their regular season Thursday night at Raines (Jacksonville).
Bolles (Jacksonville) remains 2nd.
The Bulldogs (6-1) took last week off and will close out the regular season schedule with a tough road matchup Thursday at #11 Mainland (Daytona Beach).
Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) stays 3rd as their defense continued its dominance with a 21-0 blanking of Raines.
The Conquerors (6-1) have allowed six points the last three weeks in wins over nationally-ranked American Heritage (Plantation), #10 Robert E. Lee (Jacksonville), and now Raines. Trinity Christian closes out its regular slate with a Thursday game at Ribault (Jacksonville).
Dunnellon moves up to 4th after slipping past Forest (Ocala), 10-7. The Tigers (4-0) look to stay unbeaten as they finish their regular season this week against RV West Port (Ocala), which comes in 4-1.
Rounding out the top five is Clay (Green Cove Springs).
The Blue Devils remained unbeaten, improving to 7-0 with a 63-27 beatdown of Clay County rival Ridgeview (Orange Park), which came into the game 6-1. Clay faces an even bigger test this Friday, putting the undefeated mark on the line against another county rival, #7 Oakleaf (Orange Park), this time on the road.
Baker County (Glen St. Mary) starts off the second five. The Wildcats (7-1) cruised past Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville), 49-7, but will also face a bigger challenge this week as #16 Suwannee (Live Oak) comes to Macclenny this Friday night.
Oakleaf bounced back from a tough loss at Bartram Trail to handle Nease (Ponte Vedra) 35-14 last week. The Knights (5-3) take on Nease in the opening round of the 8A playoffs next week.
Rounding out the top 10 are Vanguard (Ocala), which is 8th, Madison County 9th, and Lee at #10.
Madison County dropped five spots as the Cowboys (7-2) dropped a 15-14 heartbreaker at RV Flagler Palm Coast.
Lee (5-1) bounced back from its first loss of the season to Trinity Christian to cruise past Gainesville, 29-3, last week and stay 10th.
The only team to move into the rankings this week is Lake Minneola (Minneola) at #19. The Hawks (5-1) blasted Tavares 63-0 to move into the poll for the first time in 2020.
Lake Minneola replaced DeLand. The Bulldogs (2-2) were 20th a week ago but dropped out after a 31-7 loss to St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale).
The Prep Zone Power Poll ranks the top 20 high school football, volleyball, 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 and it is powered by Anytime Fitness of Gainesville.
THE PREP ZONE POWER POLL – 2020 FOOTBALL POLL #9
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, current record, and total voting points)
1. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (8A) (9) (7-1) – 180
2. Bolles (Jacksonville) (4A) (6-1) – 168
3. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (3A) (6-1) – 163
4. Dunnellon (5A) (5-0) – 150
5. Clay (Green Cove Springs) (5A) (7-0) – 143
6. Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (5A) (7-1) – 122
7. Oakleaf (Orange Park) (8A) (5-3) – 120
8. Vanguard (Ocala) (5A) (4-1) – 114
9. Madison County (1A) (7-2) – 101
10. Robert E. Lee (Jacksonville) (6A) (5-1) – 99
11. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (6A) (5-1) – 94
12. Buchholz (Gainesville) (7A) (5-1) – 77
13. The Villages (4A) (5-0) – 70
14. Fleming Island (Orange Park) (7A) (6-2) – 54
15. Baldwin (3A) (7-0) – 42
16. Suwannee (Live Oak) (5A) (6-2) – 38
17. Nature Coast Tech (Brooksville) (5A) (6-0) – 32
18. Fletcher (Neptune Beach) (7A) (5-1) – 30
19. Lake Minneola (Minneola) (6A) (5-1) – 19
20. Creekside (St. Johns) (7A) (4-3) – 18
Also receiving votes: St. Augustine (6A) (5-2) – 17; Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (3A) (4-3) – 11; Newberry (1A) (7-1) – 8; Flagler Palm Coast (8A) (3-3) – 5; Hawthorne (1A) (5-2) – 4; Hilliard (1A) (7-0) – 4;Keystone Heights (4A) (6-1) – 3; DeLand (8A) (2-2) – 2; West Port (Ocala) (8A) (4-1) – 2.
