Raines (Jacksonville) back in top spot as FHSAA playoffs begin
GAINESVILLE — The 2025 high school football regular season came to an end last week. And after a bye, many teams get underway this Thursday and Friday in the FHSAA state playoffs.
But there was some movement of teams in the The Prep Zone Power Poll in an interesting final week.
Raines (Jacksonville) is once again the No. 1 team in a split vote, as the Vikings (9-0) finished an undefeated regular season with a 57-0 romp at Atlantic Coast (Jacksonville). They received four of the 11 first-place votes, and as the No. 1 seed in Region 1-3A opens in the playoffs this Friday at home against Baker County (Glen St. Mary).
Previous No. 1 St. Augustine dropped five spots to No. 6 as the Yellow Jackets (9-1) lost their first game of the season, 27-21, to No. 5 Mandarin (Jacksonville).
Right behind Raines at No. 2 is Buchholz (Gainesville).
The Bobcats finished a 9-1 regular season with a thrilling 34-30 win at Cardinal Newman (West Palm Beach). They earned three first-place votes, and they are the No. 1 seed in Region 1-6A and will host Oviedo on Thursday.
DeLand moved up to No. 3 after finishing off a perfect regular season.
The Bulldogs (10-0) pounded Lake Gibson (Lakeland), 54-7, and then blanked No. 16T Spruce Creek (Port Orange), 42-0, in a makeup game last Tuesday to win the District 2-7A title.
DeLand, which received three first-place votes, is the number one seed in Region 1-7A and will host Creekside (St. Johns) this week.
Bolles (Jacksonville) remained fourth.
The Bulldogs finished off a 9-1 regular season with a 31-0 romp at No. 13 Columbia (Lake City). They earned the final first-place vote, and as a the top seed in Region 1-2A opens up the postseason at home against Walton (DeFuniak Springs).
Rounding out the top five is Mandarin. The Mustangs also finished 9-1, handing St. Augustine its first loss of the season on the road last week.
Class 4A St. Augustine leads off the second five at No. 6, followed by 7th-ranked Nease (Ponte Vedra), No. 8 Bradford (Starke), No. 9 Hawthorne, and Oakleaf (Orange Park), which moves back into the top 10 at No. 10.
For the first time in the 2025 season, no new teams moved into the poll this week nor did any teams fall out of the top 20.
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 – 2025 FOOTBALL POLL #12
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, current record, and total voting points)
1. Raines (Jacksonville) (3A)(4) (9-0) – 207
2. Buchholz (Gainesville) (6A) (3) (8-1) – 205
3. DeLand (7A) (3) (10-0) – 197
4. Bolles (Jacksonville) (2A) (1) (9-1) – 191
5. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (6A) (9-1) – 178
6. St. Augustine (4A) (9-1) – 170
7. Nease (Ponte Vedra) (6A) (8-2) – 145
8. Bradford (Starke) (2A) (9-1) – 131
9. Hawthorne (Rural) (7-1) – 116
10. Oakleaf (Orange Park) (6A) (8-2) – 106
11. Vanguard (Ocala) (4A) (8-2) – 87
12. Chiefland (Rural) (9-1) – 79
13. Columbia (Lake City) (4A) (8-2) – 78
14. The Villages (2A) (9-1) – 74
15. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (5A) (7-2) – 70
16T. Ponte Vedra (5A) (8-2) – 61
16T. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (7A) (8-2) – 61
18. Eastside (Gainesville) (3A) (8-2) – 37
19. Williston (Rural) (9-1) – 31
20. South Lake (Groveland) (6A) (9-1) – 20
Also receiving votes: Taylor County (Perry) (Rural) (9-1) – 16; Madison County (Rural) (5-5) – 10; Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (1A) (6-4) – 9; Middleburg (5A) (8-2) – 7; Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (3A) (8-2) – 5; Yulee (3A) (8-2) – 5; Beachside (St. Johns) (5A) (7-3) – 4; Ed White (Jacksonville) (4A) (8-2) – 3; University Christian (Jacksonville) (1A) (7-3) – 3; Matanzas (Palm Coast) (5A) (7-3) – 1.
