Buchholz (Gainesville) blows out a city rival and remains on top of regional rankings
GAINESVILLE — With Hurricane Ian in the rear-view mirror, the high school football season continues to roll towards the postseason.
For the Buchholz (Gainesville) Bobcats, who are the number one team in The Prep Zone Power Poll, their schedule is just getting warmed up.
Buchholz (5-0) routed city rival Gainesville, 49-0, last Thursday at Citizens Field and remained unbeaten and on top of the all-classification regional rankings, receiving seven of the 10 first-place votes again this week.
The schedule really picks up for Buchholz this week, with District 3-4S games against Oakleaf (Orange Park), at No. 3 Bartram Trail (St. Johns) and the home finale against RV Fleming Island (Orange Park), before closing the regular season in a non-district matchup at No. 15T Bolles (Jacksonville).
Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) remains right on the Bobcats’ heels, as the Conquerors improved to 6-0 with a tough 30-14 win at Riverside (Jacksonville). The Conquerors received two first-place votes and faces a showdown at home against another undefeated team, No. 4 University Christian (Jacksonville), for the District 1-1M title.
Bartram Trail (St. Johns) remained third after their defense dominated then-No. 12 Fleming Island, 17-0.
That came a week after the Bears (6-0) scored 59 points in a rout of rival RV St. Augustine. They received the final first-place vote but stayed within striking distance of the top two.
University Christian switches spots with Hawthorne and is now No. 4.
The Christians (7-0) picked up two wins since the last poll against Providence (Jacksonville) and North Florida Educational (Jacksonville). But the real challenge for UCS comes this Friday with a trip to Trinity Christian for the district title.
Hawthorne rounds out the top five.
The Hornets (5-0) struggled but got past Gibbs (St. Petersburg), 21-12, in a game moved to Tuesday due to the hurricane. Hawthorne has a tough test of their own this week on the road against No. 19 Union County (Lake Butler).
Leading off the second 10 is No. 6 Bradford (Starke). The Tornadoes (6-0) picked up two wins, 38-0 at rival Keystone Heights, and then off the field were awarded a 21-0 win from their game that was delayed due to weather back in week one.
Mainland (Daytona Beach) remained seventh, while Raines (Jacksonville) is No. 8.
Rounding out the top 10 is 9th-ranked Creekside (St. Johns) followed by Lake Minneola (Minneola), which moved up four slots and back into the top 10 after a 49-7 romp over West Port (Ocala).
Baldwin (5-1) is the only new team to the rankings this week at No. 20. The Indians make it into the poll after a 20-17 win over Yulee.
Fleming Island (Orange Park), which has lost three in a row, is the only team to drop out this week.
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 #7
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, current record, and total voting points)
1. Buchholz (Gainesville) (4S) (7) (5-0) – 197
2. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (1M) (2) (6-0) – 192
3. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (4S) (1) (6-0) – 182
4. University Christian (Jacksonville) (1M) (7-0) – 159
5. Hawthorne (1A) (5-0) – 153
6. Bradford (Starke) (2S) (6-0) – 142
7. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (3S) (4-1) – 136
8. Raines (Jacksonville) (2M) (5-1) – 122
9. Creekside (St. Johns) (4S) (5-1) – 110
10. Lake Minneola (Minneola) (4S) (5-1) – 94
11. South Sumter (Bushnell) (2S) (7-0) – 76
12. Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville) (2M) (5-1) – 75
13T. Chiefland (1R) (5-0) – 50
13T. Vanguard (Ocala) (3S) (3-3) – 50
15T. Bolles (Jacksonville) (2M) (4-3) – 48
15T. Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (1S) (4-2) – 48
17. Ed White (Jacksonville) (2M) (4-2) – 30
18. North Marion (Citra) (2S) (5-2) – 26
19. Union County (Lake Butler) (1R) (4-1) – 25
20. Baldwin (2S) (5-1) – 24
Also receiving votes: Williston (1R) (6-0) – 17; Fletcher (Neptune Beach) (3M) (5-2) – 16; Springstead (Spring Hill) (4S) (7-0) – 13; Eastside (Gainesville) (2S) (4-1) – 11; Fleming Island (Orange Park) (4S) (3-3); Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (2M) (6-1) – 8; St. Augustine (3S) (4-3) – 4; DeLand (4S) (3-2) – 2.
