Nease (Ponte Vedra) nearly unanimous No. 1 heading into postseason
GAINESVILLE — The regular season is over for high school football teams as the 2024 season now heads to playoff time.
One team has dominated The Prep Zone Power Poll for the last half of the regular season, and that team is the Nease (Ponte Vedra) Panthers. They find themselves a nearly unanimous No. 1 team in the final regular season all-classification regional rankings.
Nease (9-0) finished off a perfect regular season by outlasting RV Bartram Trail (St. Johns), 56-42, in a game made up from a postponement due to Hurricane Helene. The Panthers are ranked No. 1 in 6A and are the overall No. 1 seed in the classification according to MaxPreps.
The Panthers, who picked up nine of the 10 first-place votes, open up postseason play in a Region 1-6A quarterfinal this Friday against Tate (Cantonment).
Another unbeaten team, Raines (Jacksonville), is 2nd.
The Vikings (9-0) finished off a perfect season by blanking Atlantic Coast (Jacksonville), 48-0. Raines opens up in the 3A playoffs as the No. 1 seed in Region 1 and hosts Bay (Panama City).
St. Augustine is 3rd.
The Yellow Jackets (8-1) finished off their regular season with a 38-26 win at No. 12 Mandarin (Jacksonville). St. Augustine hosts RV Columbia (Lake City) in a Region 1-4A quarterfinal matchup this week.
Buchholz (Gainesville) moved up a spot to 4th.
The Bobcats (7-3), who received the other first-place vote, closed out the regular season by handing 1A No. 4 Cardinal Newman (West Palm Beach) their first loss of the season, 14-7. Buchholz earned the No. 2 seed in Region 1-6A behind Nease, and opens up at Citizens Field in a region quarterfinal game against Evans (Orlando).
Bolles (Jacksonville) rounds out the top five. The Bulldogs (8-1) are the No. 3 seed in Region 1-2A and host Taylor County (Perry) on Friday.
Vanguard (Ocala) leads off the second five. The Knights (9-1) earned the No. 2 seed in Region 2-4A and opens up play in the region quarterfinal against Leesburg.
Bradford (Starke) is 7th, University (Orange City) No. 8, Hawthorne No. 9, and Newberry slips into the top 10 at No. 10.
University (8-2) dropped a game to No. 11 Spruce Creek (Port Orange) but is the 3rd seed in Region 1-7A and opens up at home against Winter Park.
Bradford (8-1), the No. 2 seed in 2A-Region 2 behind Cocoa, will host The Villages in a first-round matchup, while Newberry is the 3rd seed in that region and opens up the postseason at home against Palatka.
Hawthorne is the top seed in the rural classification. The Hornets (7-1) host No. 16 seed Branford to open up defense of their back-to-back titles.
The only team new to the poll this week is Trinity Christian (Jacksonville).
The Conquerors (7-3) finished off their regular season by beating Fletcher (Neptune Beach), 35-21, and is the No. 2 seed in Region 1-1A. Trinity Christian hosts P.K. Yonge (Gainesville) to open up the 1A playoffs.
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 – 2024 FOOTBALL POLL #12
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, current record, and total voting points)
1. Nease (Ponte Vedra (6A) (9) (9-0) – 199
2. Raines (Jacksonville) (3A) (9-0) – 189
3. St. Augustine (5A) (8-1) – 177
4. Buchholz (Gainesville) (6A) (1) (7-3) – 164
5. Bolles (Jacksonville) (2A) (8-1) – 161
6. Vanguard (Ocala) (4A) (9-1) – 142
7. Bradford (Starke) (2A) (8-1) – 135
8. University (Orange City) (7A) (8-2) – 130
9. Hawthorne (Rural) (7-1) – 121
10. Newberry (2A) (8-2) – 99
11. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (7A) (7-3) – 88
12. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (6A) (7-3) – 84
13T. Madison County (Rural) (6-3) – 68
13T. Ponte Vedra (5A) (8-2) – 68
15. Flagler Palm Coast (7A) (9-1) – 53
16. Chiefland (Rural) (9-1) – 51
17. Union County (Lake Butler) (Rural) (8-1) – 37
18. Oakleaf (Orange Park) (6A) (7-3) – 35
19. Springstead (Spring Hill) (5A) (8-2) – 29
20T. New Smyrna Beach (4A) (8-2) – 14
20T. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (1A) (7-3) – 14
Also receiving votes: Dunnellon (3A) (7-3) – 10; Eastside (Gainesville) (3A) (7-3) – 9; Columbia (Lake City) (4A) (5-5) – 8; Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (6A) (4-6) – 5; Fleming Island (Orange Park) (5A) (7-3) – 5; Suwannee (Live Oak) (3A) (4-6) – 3; Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (3A) (7-3) – 1.
