Mainland (Daytona Beach) still No. 1 heading into final week
GAINESVILLE — Most of the district winners have been decided, and the announcement of the field for the FHSAA football state playoffs is just days away.
And heading into the final week of the regular season, there is still little movement in the top 10 of The Prep Zone Power Poll.
Class 3S Mainland (Daytona Beach) extended its lead from the previous week as the Bucs (9-0) easily beat rival Seabreeze (Daytona Beach), 48-14.
They received eight of the 13 first-place votes this week, up from six the previous week, to remain on top of the all-classification regional rankings.
Buchholz (Gainesville) stayed right on Mainland’s heels at No. 2.
The Class 4S Bobcats struggled a bit at Fleming island (Orange Park) last week, trailing at the half and entering the fourth quarter before pulling away for a 35-21 win.
Buchholz, which seeks its first unbeaten regular season since 2001 this Friday at Trinity Catholic (Ocala), received four first-place votes this week and remained second.
Moving into 3rd this week by themselves is St. Augustine.
The Yellow Jackets also remained unbeaten with a 49-9 win at Clay (Green Cove Springs). They will try to finish off a perfect regular season this Friday at home against Palatka.
Hawthorne falls from a tie for 3rd previously with St. Augustine to 4th this week.
The Hornets (9-0) finished their regular season with a 55-0 win over Akelynn’s Angels Christian Academy (Winter Haven) last week.
The defending 1R state champions haven’t lost a regular season game since 2020 and hasn’t lost a game overall since a 13-12 setback to Madison County in the 2021 1A state championship game in Tallahassee.
Rounding out the top five this week once again is Bradford (Starke).
The Tornadoes (9-0) wrapped up the District 6-2S title by blanking Palatka, 42-0. They received the final first-place vote.
Bradford will try and avenge its only loss of the 2022 regular season this Friday at home against No. 19 Suwannee (Live Oak).
Another unbeaten, Williston, leads off the second five.
The Red Devils improved to 9-0 by blasting North Marion (Citra), 56-20. They look for their second consecutive unbeaten regular season this week against Citrus (Inverness).
DeLand stays 7th after blowing out New Smyrna Beach, 41-7.
Raines (Jacksonville) also stayed at No. 8 as the Vikings (8-1) clinched the District 1-2M title by pounding Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville), 40-8.
University (Orange City) and South Sumter (Bushnell) both move up a spot to round out the top 10.
They replace Ponte Vedra, which saw a seven-game winning streak end with a 24-23 loss to rival Nease (Ponte Vedra). The Sharks (7-2) dropped into a tie for 14th with Mandarin (Jacksonville).
Nease (6-3) is the first team receiving votes, and can win the District 4-4S championship with a win this week against Tocoi Creek (St. Augustine).
Leesburg (9-1) is the only team new to the poll this week as the Yellow Jackets moved into the No. 20 ranking. They replace Providence (Jacksonville), which drops out after a 40-9 loss to No. 12 Trinity Christian (Jacksonville).
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 – 2023 FOOTBALL POLL #11
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, current record, and total voting points)
1. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (3S) (8) (9-0) – 254
2. Buchholz (Gainesville) (4S) (4) (9-0) – 248
3. St. Augustine (3S) (8-0) – 226
4. Hawthorne (1R) (9-0) – 224
5. Bradford (Starke) (2S) (1) (9-0) – 199
6. Williston (1R) (9-0) – 185
7. DeLand (4S) (7-2) – 183
8. Raines (Jacksonville) (2M) (8-1) – 170
9. University (Orange City) (4S) (8-1) – 151
10. South Sumter (Bushnell) (2S) (9-1) – 139
11. Madison County (1R) (6-1) – 126
12. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (1M) (6-3) – 102
13. Vanguard (Ocala) (3S) (7-2) – 94
14T. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (4M) (7-2) – 83
14T. Ponte Vedra (4S) (7-2) – 83
16. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (4S) (5-4) – 52
17. Riverside (Jacksonville) (2M) (7-2) – 38
18. Lake Minneola (Minneola) (4S) (6-3) – 32
19. Suwannee (Live Oak) (2S) (6-2) – 31
20. Leesburg (3S) (9-1) – 26
Also receiving votes: Nease (Ponte Vedra) (4S) (6-3) – 19; Bolles (Jacksonville) (2M) (5-4) – 18; Columbia (Lake City) (3S) (4-4) – 12; Providence (Jacksonville) (1M) (7-2) – 12; Newberry (1R) (7-2) – 11; Fort White (1R) (8-1) – 6; Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (4S) (7-3) – 1.
