GAINESVILLE – Fresh off a district title, Gainesville High was again a unanimous selection as the top overall team in the Prep Zone Power Poll
GHS (8-0) defeated Vanguard (Ocala), 34-19, to win Class 6A-District 5 and the ‘Canes collected all seven first-place votes to remain ahead of #2 Madison County (8-0). The Cowboys went on the road and edged Pensacola Catholic, 29-28 in overtime, to stay unbeaten and move within a game of securing the Class 3A-District 1 title.
The top two teams will meet this week as Madison County hosts Gainesville on Friday night.
First Coast (Jacksonville) (7-0), which was off, remained third, while South Sumter (Bushnell) (8-0) remained fourth following a 53-0 win over Interlachen. Columbia (Lake City) (6-1) moved up one spot following a 58-0 district win over Middleburg to round out the top five.
St. Augustine (7-0) rallied from 19 points down to defeat previous #14 Bartram Trail (St. Johns), 27-26, but the Yellow Jackets still dropped one spot to sixth. Meanwhile, Fletcher (Neptune Beach), Union County (Lake Butler), Trenton and Bolles (Jacksonville) all remained seventh through 10th respectively.
In fact, no teams dropped out this week and only two of the ranked teams (Bartram Trail and Raines, which lost to Bolles) actually got beat. Raines (6-1) dropped three spots to 14th, while Bartram Trail (6-2) tumbled four spots to 18th.
The Prep Zone Power Poll ranks the top 20 high school football, basketball and baseball teams (regardless of classification) across 26 counties in north Florida (Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Citrus, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hernando, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Levy, Marion, Nassau, Putnam, Sumter, St. Johns, Suwannee, Taylor, Union & Volusia counties). It is voted on weekly by sportswriters and sportscasters.
PREP ZONE POWER POLL – WEEK #9
(School, followed by first-place votes, classification, overall record and total voting points)
1. Gainesville (7) (6A) (8-0) – 140
2. Madison County (3A) (8-0) – 131
3. First Coast (Jacksonville) (7A) (7-0) – 122
4. South Sumter (Bushnell) (4A) (8-0) – 116
5. Columbia (Lake City) (6A) (6-1) – 110
6. St. Augustine (6A) (7-0) – 108
7. Fletcher (Neptune Beach) (8A) (6-1) – 97
8. Union County (Lake Butler) (1A) (8-0) – 90
9. Trenton (1A) (7-0) – 78
10. Bolles (Jacksonville) (4A) (7-1) – 77
11. New Smyrna Beach (6A) (7-0) – 71
12. Springstead (Spring Hill) (6A) (8-0) – 61
13. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (3A) (6-1) – 60
14. Raines (Jacksonville) (4A) (6-1) – 47
15. Warner Christian (South Daytona) (2A) (7-1) – 38
16T Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (3A) (5-2) – 28
16T Fleming Island (Orange Park) (7A) (6-2) – 28
18. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (6A) (6-2) – 23
19. Ponte Vedra (5A) (6-1) – 18
20. Ridgeview (Orange Park) (6A) (6-1) – 10
Also receiving votes – University Christian (Jacksonville) (2A) (6-1) – 6; Lafayette (Mayo) (1A) (5-2) – 4; Ed White (Jacksonville) (7A) (5-2) – 4; Atlantic (Port Orange) (5A) (6-1) – 2; Yulee (4A) (6-2) – 1.
