Mainland (Daytona Beach) & Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) remain on top
Gainesville – Defense continues to be the cornerstone of the top five teams in the Prep Zone Power Poll.
Mainland (Daytona Beach) remained No. 1 and collected eight of the 10 first-place votes following a 41-7 win over 8A Oviedo. The Class 6A No. 1-ranked Bucs (7-0) have allowed nine points or less in six of their seven games.
Defending 3A state champion Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) received the other two first-place votes. The second-ranked Conquerors avenged their only loss last season with a 28-13 win over 5A No. 8 Godby (Tallahassee). The Conquerors (5-1) are only allowing 11.8 points per game.
First Coast (Jacksonville) remained third. The 8A No. 2-ranked Bucs (6-0) posted their first shutout of the season in a 42-0 win over Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville). They have allowed seven points or less in all but one game this season.
Following a 7-3 loss by previous No. 4 St. Augustine to #8 Clay (Green Cove Springs), which moved up three spots to fifth, South Sumter (Bushnell) is back in at No. 4 this week.
The Raiders, winners of 30 regular season games in a row, defeated Hernando (Brooksville), 36-12. South Sumter (5-0) is only allowing 4.9 points per game, while Clay (6-1) had its best defensive effort of the season in the win against the Yellow Jackets, which dropped St. Augustine (6-1) three spots to seventh.
Class 5A Suwannee (Live Oak) is ranked sixth. The Bulldogs (6-0) are looking for their first unbeaten regular season since 1962.
Dixie County (Cross City), the top-ranked team in 1A, defeated previous #17 Hamilton County (Jasper), 20-7, and moved up two spots to eighth. The Bears (6-0) have defeated the Nos. 1 (Trenton), 2 (Hamilton County) & 4 (Union County) teams in 1A – all on the road.
Oakleaf (Orange Park) is ranked ninth following a 48-6 win over Arlington Country Day (Jacksonville). The Knights, who moved up three spots in the poll, are 7-0 for the first time in school history.
Rounding out the top 10 is Trinity Catholic (Ocala), which defeated 5A Jesuit (Tampa), 28-7. The Celtics’ (5-1) defense held the Tigers to just 167 yards of total offense.
Class 4A Raines (Jacksonville) is back in the rankings following a 41-36 win against previous No. 6 Fletcher (Neptune Beach), which dropped the Senators (4-2) seven spots to 13th. The Vikings (4-3) have played a tough schedule with six of their seven opponents either currently ranked or ranked at one time in the state rankings.
Their wins include 7A Fletcher, 6A Ed White (6-1), which defeated previous No. 9 Columbia, 51-7, to move into the rankings, and district foe Bolles (Jacksonville) (4-2) – all teams ranked in this week’s top 20.
Meanwhile, previous No. 14 Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) and #17 Hamilton County (Jasper) fell out of the poll. The Crusaders (4-1) lost to Westside (Jacksonville), 38-20, which broke a 14-game regular season winning streak for Bishop Kenny dating back to a 49-35 loss to Baker County on Nov. 2, 2012.
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.
Prep Zone Power Poll – 2014 Football Poll #8
(School, followed by first-place votes, classification, overall record and total voting points)
1. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (8) (6A) (7-0) – 198
2. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (2) (3A) (5-1) – 192
3. First Coast (Jacksonville) (8A) (6-0) – 179
4. South Sumter (Bushnell) (5A) (7-0) – 169
5. Clay (Green Cove Springs) (5A) (6-1) – 161
6. Suwannee (Live Oak) (5A) (6-0) – 140
7. St. Augustine (6A) (6-1) – 126
8. Dixie County (Cross City) (1A) (6-0) – 125
9. Oakleaf (Orange Park) (7A) (7-0) – 120
10. Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (3A) (5-1) – 113
11. Bolles (Jacksonville) (4A) (4-2) – 85
12. South Lake (Groveland) (6A) (6-0) – 80
13. Fletcher (Neptune Beach) (7A) (4-2) – 72
14. Ed White (Jacksonville) (6A) (6-1) – 69
15. North Marion (Citra) (5A) (5-2) – 55
16. Trenton (1A) (6-1) – 44
17T Columbia (Lake City) (6A) (5-2) – 34
17T University (Orange City) (8A) (6-1) – 34
19. Flagler Palm Coast (8A) (6-1) – 30
20. Raines (Jacksonville) (4A) (4-3) – 20
Also receiving votes: Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (5A) (4-1) – 17; Hamilton County (Jasper) (1A) (5-2) – 12; Madison County (4A) (5-2) – 8; Westside (Jacksonville) (5A) (4-3) – 7; Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (6A) (4-2) – 6; Providence (Jacksonville) (3A) (6-1) – 3; DeLand (8A) 4-3) – 1.
