Top five of regional rankings remains unchanged after opening week of playoffs
GAINESVILLE — Week one of the FHSAA state football playoffs saw few surprises, and even less so for the Prep Zone Power Poll rankings.
All of the top 10 teams won their first-round playoff games a week ago, setting some interesting showdowns in second round action this Friday.
Mainland (Daytona Beach) is once again the unanimous #1 team in the regional rankings, as they have been since the preseason poll.
The Bucs (10-0) pounded Okeechobee, 56-7, in their 6A regional quarterfinal and received all nine first-place votes. Mainland hits the road this week to face Sebastian River in the regional semifinal round.
Bolles remains second after a 40-0 blanking of East Gadsden (Havana). The Bulldogs (10-0) next host a familiar foe in #14 Raines (Jacksonville). Bolles edged Raines, 24-23, three weeks ago to clinch the District 2-4A title. The 14th-ranked Vikings (7-2) easily won their playoff opener at Walton (DeFuniak Springs), 52-14.
Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) stays third after a 64-16 drubbing of Taylor County (Perry) in the 3A regional semifinals. Next up for the Conquerors (8-3) is Florida High (Tallahassee), which eliminated RV Episcopal (Jacksonville), 20-17.
Madison County remains 4th after breezing past Baldwin, 43-7, in their 1A playoff opener. Up next for the Cowboys (10-0) is a tough trip to RV Fort White (9-2).
Rounding out the top five once again is Vanguard (Ocala). The Knights (9-1) cruised past Springstead (Spring Hill), 45-0, in their 6A playoff opener. Vanguard will hit the road this Friday to Mitchell (New Port Richey), which held off Forest (Ocala), 17-14, to end the Wildcats’ season.
Baker County (Glen St. Mary) is 6th after drubbing Belleview, 35-7, in their 5A regional quarterfinal game. Next up for the Wildcats (9-1) is District 5-5A rival 19th-ranked Clay (Green Cove Springs). The Blue Devils (8-3) moved into the poll this week after rallying past North Marion (Citra), 41-38, to advance to Friday’s game at Baker County.
St. Augustine (10-1) moves up one spot to 7th this week after a thrilling 35-28 6A regional quarterfinal win over Niceville. The Yellow Jackets were eliminated in the opening round at Niceville in 2015, and now host Crestview, which ended Middleburg’s first playoff appearance since 2003, 35-0.
Ponte Vedra drops to 8th this week despite blasting Yulee, 51-19, in their 5A playoff opener.
Next up for the Sharks (10-0) is #16 Ribault (Jacksonville). The Trojans (6-3) continued their hot play of late, slipping past Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville), 14-13, to rise three more spots this week.
South Sumter (Bushnell) and Lee (Jacksonville) round out the top 10.
The Raiders (9-1) eased past Santa Fe (Alachua), 42-18, and host district rival #14 Dunnellon in a 4A regional final this Friday.
Lee (8-1) shut out Leon (Tallahassee), 42-0, in the Generals’ first home playoff game in 20 years, and they are back at the Backyard this week for a 7A regional semifinal game against their district rival #17 Columbia (Lake City).
Moving into the poll this week along with Columbia and Clay is #18 University Christian (Jacksonville) and 20th-ranked Bartram Trail (St. Johns). Those teams replace three teams who were eliminated from the postseason last week – Sandalwood (Jacksonville), Spruce Creek (Port Orange), and Newberry.
Also falling out is University (Orange City), which did not qualify for the playoffs.
There are six matchups between ranked teams coming up this Friday night.
This is the final poll until after the FHSAA State Championship Games in Orlando from December 8-10.
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 powered by Anytime Fitness of Gainesville.
The Prep Zone Power Poll – 2016 Football Poll #12
(School, followed by classification, first place votes, overall record, and total voting points).
1. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (6A) (9) (10-0) – 180
2. Bolles (Jacksonville) (4A) (10-0) – 167
3. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (3A) (8-3) – 165
4. Madison County (1A) (10-0) – 150
5. Vanguard (Ocala) (6A) (9-1) – 147
6. Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (5A) (9-1) – 128
7. St. Augustine (6A) (10-1) – 120
8. Ponte Vedra (5A) (10-0) – 119
9. South Sumter (Bushnell) (4A) (9-1) – 104
10. Lee (Jacksonville) (7A) (8-1) – 103
11. Nature Coast (Brooksville) (5A) (10-0) – 89
12. Buchholz (Gainesville) (7A) (8-2) – 83
13. Dunnellon (4A) (9-1) – 68
14. Raines (Jacksonville) (4A) (7-2) – 67
15. Trenton (1A) (9-1) – 47
16. Ribault (Jacksonville) (5A) (6-3) – 35
17. Columbia (Lake City) (7A) (7-3) – 32
18. University Christian (Jacksonville) (2A) (7-2) – 28
19. Clay (Green Cove Springs) (5A) (8-3) – 18
20. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (7A) (7-4) – 12
Also receiving votes: Fort White (1A) (9-2) – 11; University (Orange City) (8A) (8-2) – 10; Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (8A) (7-4) – 4; Sandalwood (Jacksonville) (8A) (7-2) – 3.
