Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) remains No. 1 heading into the postseason
GAINESVILLE — The 2022 high school football regular season is over and the playoff matchups for the second season are set.
Now the real fun begins.
Heading into the postseason two undefeated teams continue to dominate atop the rankings of The Prep Zone Power Poll, which ranks the top 20 teams across 26 counties in Florida.
Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) finished off a perfect regular season by pounding Munroe (Quincy), 54-21, in their final game. The Conquerors (10-0), who are ranked No. 3 in 1M and 21st statewide overall by Max Preps, received six of the nine first-place votes again this week in the all-classification regional rankings to stay No. 1 heading into the playoffs.
Trinity Christian actually has a bye this week before opening up play in the Region 1-1M semifinal against Orlando Christian Prep on November 18.
Bartram Trail (St. Johns) continues to be right on Trinity Christian’s tail.
The Bears finished off the second undefeated regular season in school history by knocking off Mandarin (Jacksonville), 42-20. Bartram Trail (10-0) received the other three first-place votes and open up play in the Region 1-4S quarterfinal Friday night against Flagler Palm Coast.
University Christian (Jacksonville) moved up three spots this week to No. 3.
The Christians (9-1), whose only loss was 20-13 at top-ranked Trinity Christian, eased past then-No. 16T Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville), 29-10, to end the regular season. UCS also has a bye this Friday before opening up their postseason in the 1M region semifinals against The First Academy (Orlando) on November 18.
Hawthorne also moved up a spot to 4th.
The Hornets finished off their second consecutive unbeaten regular season with a 52-0 rout of Astronaut (Titusville). Hawthorne is also off this week and will open up in the Region 4-1R semifinal on November 18 against the winner of this Friday’s region quarterfinal between No. 19 Williston and Wildwood.
Rounding out the top five this week is Buchholz (Gainesville).
The Bobcats (8-2) dropped two spots as they were beaten, 49-28, at No. 17 Bolles (Jacksonville). Buchholz dropped two of their last three regular season games and hope to right the ship as they begin play in a Region 1-4S matchup against Pace, which was originally scheduled for Citizens Field in Gainesville on Thursday night but was moved to Newberry on Friday due to Hurricane Nicole.
Lake Minneola (Minneola) moved up three slots to lead off the second five at No. 6, finishing off an 8-1 regular season by pounding Leesburg, 69-6. The Hawks hosts Bartow to open up play in Region 2-4S on Friday.
South Sumter (Bushnell) also moved up three spots this week to 7th as they finished a 10-0 regular season by blasting Newberry, 61-21. The Raiders will host Eustis in the 2S playoffs on Friday.
Bradford (Starke) dropped four spots to No. 8 after losing its first game of the season, 10-7, at Suwannee (Live Oak). The Tornadoes still earned a No. 1 seed in Region 2-2S and open up play in the quarterfinal round against Crescent City.
With the win, red-hot Suwannee, winners of six in a row, moved into the poll this week at No. 15. The Bulldogs (8-2) will host Walton (DeFuniak Springs) in the Region 1-2S quarterfinals.
Raines (Jacksonville) and Trinity Catholic (Ocala) round out the top 10.
The Vikings (7-2) rebounded from a loss to Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville) by winning their regular season finale, 32-6, at Westside (Jacksonville). Raines travels to No. 13 Ed White (Jacksonville) to open up play in the Region 1-2M quarterfinal.
Trinity Catholic was off and finished the regular season 6-2. The Celtics now have another bye this week before finally getting under way in Region 2-1S on November 18 against Father Lopez (Daytona Beach).
Andrew Jackson dropped out of the top 10 to 12th after being upset, 30-16, at First Coast (Jacksonville). The Tigers saw their eight-game winning streak come to an end but still earned the No. 1 seed in Region 1-2M and will host Riverside (Jacksonville) on Friday.
The only team dropping out of the poll this week is Chiefland, which was blasted, 57-28, by their rival, No. 18 and unbeaten Williston, to close out their regular season. Chiefland (6-2) is in action against Newberry in a Region 4-1R quarterfinal matchup.
The Prep Zone Power Poll ranks the top 20 high school football, girls basketball, boys basketball, softball & baseball 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 – 2022 FOOTBALL POLL #11
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, current record, and total voting points)
1. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (1M) (6) (10-0) – 177
2. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (4S) (3) (10-0) – 174
3. University Christian (Jacksonville) (1M) (9-1) – 152
4. Hawthorne (1R) (8-0) – 150
5. Buchholz (Gainesville) (4S) (7-2) – 128
6. Lake Minneola (Minneola) (4S) (8-1) – 125
7. South Sumter (Bushnell) (2S) (10-0) – 111
8. Bradford (Starke) (2S) (9-1) – 100
9. Raines (Jacksonville) (2M) (7-2) – 93
10. Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (1S) (6-2) – 91
11. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (3S) (7-3) – 81
12. Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville) (2M) (8-2) – 80
13. Ed White (Jacksonville) (2M) (7-2) – 72
14. Creekside (St. Johns) (4S) (8-2) – 67
15. Suwannee (Live Oak) (2S) (8-2) – 51
16. Vanguard (Ocala) (3S) (7-3) – 47
17. Bolles (Jacksonville) (2M) (6-4) – 39
18. Williston (1R) (10-0) – 36
19. Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (2M) (8-2) – 34
20. Columbia (Lake City) (3S) (6-3) – 33
Also receiving votes: Fletcher (Neptune Beach) (3M) (8-2) – 21; Chiefland (1R) (6-2) – 13; St. Augustine (3S) (7-3) – 6; Union County (Lake Butler) (1R) (6-2) – 5; Baldwin (2S) (8-2) – 3; North Marion (Citra) (2S) (7-3) – 3; Springstead (Spring Hill) (4S) (9-1) – 1.
