St. Augustine makes move into top five after big win over rival Bartram Trail (St. Johns)
GAINESVILLE — The Mainland (Daytona Beach) Bucs continue to sit at the top of The Prep Zone Power Poll as the season heads into the halfway point this week.
But the big story in this week’s rankings is the continued rise of St. Augustine.
The Yellow Jackets, who had already beaten No. 17 Bolles (Jacksonville) and Brunswick (GA), kicked a field goal in the last 30 seconds to knock off then-No. 4 Bartram Trail (St. Johns), 34-31, last Friday.
With the win St. Augustine (4-0) moves into the top five for the first time this season as the Yellow Jackets are 4th this week in the all-classification regional rankings.
Bartram Trail (2-2) only dropped three spots to 7th.
As for Mainland, the Bucs (5-0) struggled last week with RV Lake Minneola (Minneola) before pulling out a 31-28 win. They received nine of the 13 first-place votes to stay atop the poll.
Buchholz (Gainesville) remained 2nd and receives the other four first-place votes. The Bobcats (5-0) pulled away for a 30-10 win over then-No. 6 Vanguard (Ocala). Buchholz is off this week before taking on city rival Gainesville next Thursday.
Vanguard (4-1) dropped to 9th with the loss.
Hawthorne (5-0), which is also on a bye this week, remained third after cruising to a 50-2 win at P.K. Yonge (Gainesville).
Following St. Augustine and rounding out the top five is Bradford (Starke). The Tornadoes (4-0) were off last week and host rival Keystone Heights tonight.
Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) leads off the second five at No. 6. The Conquerors (3-2) got back on the winning track with a 27-13 triumph at winless Columbia (Lake City).
Following Bartram Trail at No. 8 is University Christian (Jacksonville). The Christians (3-1) took a nine-hour bus ride to the edge of Florida and knocked off Key West, 41-17.
Following Vanguard and rounding out the top 10 is Suwannee (Live Oak). The Bulldogs (4-0) blasted North Marion (Citra), 32-6, to remain unbeaten.
New to the poll this week are Bolles (Jacksonville), Ponte Vedra, and Palatka.
Bolles (2-3) is back in the rankings at No. 17 after winning 44-28 last week at No. 19 Oakleaf (Orange Park) for their second straight win after an 0-3 start.
Ponte Vedra (3-1) is 18th as they rolled at Menendez (St. Augustine), 32-12, and Palatka slipped in at No. 4 after a 4-0 start. The Panthers are off this week.
Union County, Trinity Catholic (Ocala), and Madison County dropped out from last week’s poll.
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 #6
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, current record, and total voting points)
1. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (3S) (9) (5-0) – 256
2. Buchholz (Gainesville) (4S) (4) (5-0) – 244
3. Hawthorne (1R) (5-0) – 227
4. St. Augustine (3S) (4-0) – 224
5. Bradford (Starke) (2S) (4-0) – 200
6. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (1M) (3-2) – 167
7. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (4S) (2-2) – 162
8. University Christian (Jacksonville) (1M) (3-1) – 144
9. Vanguard (Ocala) (3S) (4-1) – 135
10. Suwannee (Live Oak) (2S) (4-0) – 128
11. DeLand (4S) (3-1) – 124
12. Raines (Jacksonville) (2M) (3-1) – 121
13. Williston (1R) (5-0) – 120
14. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (4M) (4-1) – 113
15. University (Orange City) (4S) (5-0) – 109
16. South Sumter (Bushnell) (2S) (4-1) – 65
17. Bolles (Jacksonville) (2M) (2-3) – 41
18. Ponte Vedra (4S) (3-1) – 27
19. Oakleaf (Orange Park) (4S) (2-1) – 20
20. Palatka (2S) (4-0) – 17
Also receiving votes: Madison County (1R) (2-1) – 13; New Smyrna Beach (4S) (4-0) – 11; Riverside (Jacksonville) (2M) (4-1) – 11; Leesburg (3S) (4-1) – 10; Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (1S) (1-3) – 10; Lake Minneola (Minneola) (4S) (1-3) – 9; Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (4S) (4-1) – 8; Newberry (1R) (4-1) – 5; Creekside (St. Johns) (4S) (2-3) – 4; Springstead (Spring Hill) (4S) (3-1) – 3; Nease (Ponte Vedra) (3S) (3-2) – 1; Union County (Lake Butler) (1R) (2-2) – 1.
