Raines (Jacksonville) takes over top spot
The Bradford (Starke) football team finally found its Kryptonite. It’s the Newberry Panthers.
The Tornadoes (6-1) saw their 16-game regular season winning streak end last Friday, losing 21-7 at then-RV Newberry in the 2A-District 5 championship game.
The loss dropped them from the top spot in The Prep Zone Power Poll for the first time in four weeks.
Bradford, which finished as state runner-up last season, losing only to Cocoa, and advanced to the state semifinals in 2022, was 26-3 over the past two seasons, with their last regular season setback coming 10-7 at Suwannee (Live Oak) in the final regular season game of 2022.
Bradford, which travels to Leon (Tallahassee) on Friday, dropped to 5th this week.
The new number one team is Raines (Jacksonville).
Despite having their game at No. 12 Madison County postponed due to Hurricane Milton, the Vikings (6-0) received six of the 11 first-place votes. There is no set makeup date for the Madison County game.
Raines, which returns to action on Friday at RV Creekside (St. Johns), edged Nease (Ponte Vedra) for the top spot. The Panthers (5-0), who return to action on Friday at home against Atlantic Coast (Jacksonville), didn’t play for the second straight week, as their game against RV Bartram Trail (St. Johns) was moved to Thursday, November 7.
St. Augustine, which travels to Bartram Trail on Friday for its annual St. Johns County rivalry game, moved to No. 3.
The Yellow Jackets (5-1), whose only loss is by one point in overtime to Nease, had no problem with Clay (Green Cove Springs), blowing them out 56-6 on Monday night.
Bolles (Jacksonville) moved up a spot to 4th.
The Bulldogs (6-1) had no problem with Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville), blanking the Tigers 26-0 in a game that was moved up three days due to Hurricane Milton. Bolles hits the road again on Friday to RV Riverside (Jacksonville).
Buchholz (Gainesville) moved up three spots to lead off the second five. The Bobcats (5-3) followed up their blasting of rival Gainesville by pummeling RV Tocoi Creek (St. Augustine), 63-22, in a District 3-6A game on Monday.
Vanguard (Ocala) remained 7th as the Knights (6-1) won another big district game at Lecanto, 40-13, while Hawthorne dropped two slots to 8th after a bye week.
The Hornets (5-1) hit the road against IMG Academy White (Bradenton) on Friday.
University (Orange City) and Mandarin (Jacksonville) round out the top 10.
University’s game at No. 11 Spruce Creek (Port Orange) was postponed until November 7, which will now serve as the final week of the regular season, with the playoffs starting on Friday, November 15.
Oakleaf joins Newberry as teams who move back into the poll this week. The Knights (5-2) had no problem with First Coast (Jacksonville), hammering the Bucs, 44-0.
Dropping out were previous No. 16 Middleburg (6-1), which lost its first game of the season, 52-21, at No. 15 Ponte Vedra, and previous No. 17 Beachside (St. Johns), which fell out after a 44-17 loss at RV Fleming Island (Orange Park).
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 #9
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, current record, and total voting points)
1. Raines (Jacksonville) (3A) (6) (6-0) – 215
2. Nease (Ponte Vedra) (6A) (5) (5-0) – 213
3. St. Augustine (5A) (5-1) – 188
4. Bolles (Jacksonville) (2A) (6-1) – 179
5. Bradford (Starke) (2A) (6-1) – 163
6. Buchholz (Gainesville) (6A) (5-3) – 153
7. Vanguard (Ocala) (4A) (6-1) – 149
8. Hawthorne (Rural) (5-1) – 146
9. University (Orange City) (7A) (6-1) – 134
10. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (6A) (5-2) – 122
11. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (7A) (5-2) – 100
12. Madison County (Rural) (4-2) – 94
13. Union County (Lake Butler) (Rural) (6-0) – 71
14. Newberry (2A) (5-2) – 61
15. Ponte Vedra (5A) (5-2) – 59
16. Taylor County (Perry) (2A) (6-0) – 42
17. Springstead (Spring Hill) (5A) (6-0) – 38
18. Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (3A) (4-2) – 25
19T. Chiefland (Rural) (6-1) – 23
19T. Oakleaf (Orange Park) (6A) (5-2) – 23
Also receiving votes: Flagler Palm Coast (7A) (5-1) – 18; New Smyrna Beach (4A) (5-1) – 17; Middleburg (5A) (6-1) – 15; Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (1A) (4-3) – 13; Beachside (St. Johns) (5A) (5-2) – 9; Providence (Jacksonville) (1A) (6-1) – 7; South Sumter (Bushnell) (3A) (3-4) – 6; Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (6A) (3-3) – 5; Creekside (St. Johns) (7A) (4-3) – 5; Columbia (Lake City) (4A) (3-5) – 4; Fleming Island (Orange Park) (5A) (4-3) – 4; Leesburg (4A) (5-2) – 3; Tocoi Creek (St. Augustine) (6A) (4-3) – 3; Dunnellon (3A) (4-3) – 2; Riverside (Jacksonville) (4A) (5-3) – 1.
