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Columbia (Lake City) unanimous top-ranked team after opening week of play
GAINESVILLE — Only one week into the 2018 regular season for high school football in The Prep Zone’s coverage area, and the Columbia (Lake City) Tigers showed how good they can be.
Columbia defeated Gainesville, 44-21, in a game that took two days to play in two different cities. The game started last Thursday night at Citizens Field in Gainesville, with the Tigers leading, 14-7, when play was stopped due to lighting and heavy rain late in the first quarter. The game resumed a night later at Columbia’s home field in Lake City, and the Tigers rolled to an opening game victory against the Hurricanes.
Columbia, which is ranked 2nd in Class 7A of the Associated Press state rankings, receives all 10 first-place votes this week as they are now the unanimous #1 team in the all-classification regional rankings.
Moving up one spot to 2nd this week is Trinity Christian (Jacksonville). The Conquerors opened their season by rallying past 7A Braden River (Bradenton), 27-22, last week.
Class 6A St. Augustine moves up two slots to #3 after a thrilling 14-13 win at #13 Baker County (Glen St. Mary).
Vanguard (Ocala) moves up two spots to 4th after shutting out Kathleen (Lakeland) 35-0 on the road last week. The Knights, ranked fifth in Class 6A, host No. 12 Buchholz (Gainesville) this week.
Rounding out the top five is defending 1A state champion Madison County. Despite blasting 5A #9 Wakulla (Crawfordville), 27-3, in their opening game, the Cowboys drop one spot but stay in the top five.
Robert E. Lee (Jacksonville) moves up six spaces this week to lead off the second five after a 16-15 win at rival and defending 4A state champion Raines (Jacksonville). Raines drops from 2nd in the preseason poll a week ago to #7 this week.
Rounding out the top 10 are Bolles (Jacksonville) and Bartram Trail (St. Johns), who are tied for 8th, and Flagler Palm Coast is 10th. Bolles moves up five spots after trouncing then-#10 University Christian (Jacksonville), 37-7, on opening night.
New to the poll this week is DeLand, now in at #14 after defeating Volusia County rival, Mainland (Daytona Beach), 30-20. The Bucs drop seven spots to 15th in this week’s poll.
Dunnellon drops out from a week ago after a 20-13 loss at Crystal River.
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 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 Strive Fitness.
THE PREP ZONE POWER POLL – 2018 FOOTBALL POLL #2
(School, followed by classification, first place votes, record, and total voting points)
1. Columbia (Lake City) (7A) (10) (1-0) – 200
2. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (5A) (1-0) – 183
3. St. Augustine (6A) (1-0) – 170
4. Vanguard (Ocala) (6A) (1-0) – 162
5. Madison County (1A) (1-0) – 152
6. Robert E. Lee (Jacksonville) (7A) (1-0) – 135
7. Raines (Jacksonville) (4A) (0-1) – 122
T-8. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (7A) (1-0) – 120
T-8. Bolles (Jacksonville) (5A) (1-0) – 120
10. Flagler Palm Coast (8A) (1-0) – 119
11. Fleming Island (7A) (1-0) – 95
12. Buchholz (Gainesville) (7A) (1-0) – 80
13. Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (5A) (0-1) – 63
14. DeLand (8A) (1-0) – 60
15. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (6A) (0-1) – 54
16. Sandalwood (Jacksonville) (8A) (1-0) – 41
17. Dixie County (Cross City) (1A) (1-0) – 34
T-18. Clay (Green Cove Springs) (5A) (0-1) – 29
T-18. University Christian (Jacksonville) (2A) (1-1) – 29
20. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (8A) (1-0) – 19
Also receiving votes: Menendez (St. Augustine) (1-0) – 15; Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (3A) (1-0) – 12; Ponte Vedra (5A) (1-0) – 11; Fletcher (Neptune Beach) (7A) (1-0) – 9; Gainesville (6A) (0-1) – 8; Chiefland (1A) (1-0) – 6; Taylor County (3A) (1-0) – 6; Eastside (Gainesville) (5A) (0-1) – 5; Lafayette (Mayo) (1A) (1-0) – 4; Hawthorne (1A) (1-0) – 3; Baldwin (3A) (1-0) – 2; North Marion (Citra) (5A) (1-0) – 2; Dunnellon (4A) (0-1) – 1.
