Marty Pallman
The high school football season is nearing the halfway mark as we head into week 5 Friday night.
But with four weeks in the books, the top team in the Prep Zone Power Poll continues to hail from Daytona Beach.
Mainland improved to 4-0 by blanking then-No. 9 Raines (Jacksonville), 26-0. With the win, the Bucs remain at the top of the regional rankings and were nearly unanimous again this week, receiving 11 of the 12 first-place votes.
At No. 2 is Buchholz (Gainesville). The Bobcats, led by Myles Graham’s 204 yards rushing, trounced Creekside (St. Johns), 49-20, in their District 3-4S opener. Buchholz (4-0) received the other first-place vote as they prepare for a showdown with another unbeaten in No. 6 Vanguard (Ocala) Friday night at Citizens Field in Gainesville.
Hawthorne remains at No. 3 after extending their winning streak to 16 games in a row but had to work for it against then-No. 10T South Sumter (Bushnell). The Hornets (4-0) trailed 21-14 at halftime but outscored the Raiders 28-0 in the second half to pull away for a 42-21 win.
Bartram Trail (St. Johns) was off last week but moves up a spot to No. 4 after last week’s fourth-ranked team Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) lost at RV (receiving votes) Bolles (Jacksonville), 26-21. The Bears (2-1) now have a showdown with St. Johns County rival No. 7 St. Augustine this Friday night.
Trinity Christian (2-2) drops five spots to No. 9 after the loss to Bolles, who won its first game of 2023 but just missed moving back into the rankings this week as the Bulldogs (1-3) are the first team receiving votes.
Bradford (Starke) rounds out the top five after pounding Eastside (Gainesville), 34-7. The Tornadoes (4-0) are off this week before facing rival Keystone Heights in week six.
Vanguard moves up a spot to No. 6 as the Knights handed previously unbeaten RV Leesburg a 42-29 setback.
St. Augustine (3-0) moves up to No. 7 and prepared for their showdown with Bartram Trail by hammering Menendez (St. Augustine), 44-6.
Mandarin (Jacksonville) moves up two more spaces to No. 8 as they took care of previously unbeaten RV Atlantic Coast (Jacksonville), 30-0. The Mustangs (4-0) travel to Creekside on Friday night.
Following Trinity Christian and rounding out the top 10 is University Christian (Jacksonville). The Christians (2-1) were off last week and take a nearly nine-hour trip to the end of Florida this week at Key West.
Among the Mainstreet Daily News area schools in the second 10 are No. 11 Suwannee (Live Oak), who improved to 3-0 with a 40-6 romp over Munroe (Quincy), and Williston who is tied at No. 12 with DeLand. The Red Devils had no problem with a 42-12 win at Dunnellon but face another tough road game Friday at unbeaten RV Fort White.
The final Mainstreet team in the top 20 this week is No. 18 Union County (Lake Butler). The Tigers (2-1) pounded P.K. Yonge (Gainesville), 49-12, and will host Orlando Christian Prep on Friday night.
Fort White is receiving votes as they prepare for the undefeated showdown with Williston.
No. 17 Oakleaf (Orange Park) and No. 20 Madison County are new to the rankings this week.
Fleming Island (Orange Park), who lost 24-14 at Oakleaf, and Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) drop out from last week.
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 #5
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, current record, and total voting points)
Teams in bold are inside the Mainstreet Daily News coverage area.
1. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (3S) (11) (4-0) – 239
2. Buchholz (Gainesville) (4S) (1) (4-0) – 222
3. Hawthorne (1R) (4-0) – 206
4. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (4S) (2-1) – 191
5. Bradford (Starke) (2S) (4-0) – 183
6. Vanguard (Ocala) (3S) (4-0) – 173
7. St. Augustine (3S) (3-0) – 163
8. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (4M) (4-0) – 157
9. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (1M) (2-2) – 132
10. University Christian (Jacksonville) (1M) (2-1) – 116
11. Suwannee (Live Oak) (2S) (3-0) – 112
12T. DeLand (4S) (3-1) – 91
12T. Williston (1R) (4-0) – 91
14. Raines (Jacksonville) (2M) (2-1) – 82
15. University (Orange City) (4S) (4-0) – 74
16. South Sumter (Bushnell) (2S) (3-1) – 68
17. Oakleaf (Orange Park) (4S) (2-0) – 39
18. Union County (Lake Butler) (1R) (2-1) – 35
19. Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (1S) (1-2) – 33
20. Madison County (1R) (2-0) – 28
Also receiving votes: Bolles (Jacksonville) (2M) (1-3) – 23; Ponte Vedra (4S) (2-1) – 16; Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (4S) (4-0) – 16; Palatka (2S) (4-0) – 9; Fort White (1R) (4-0) – 8; Fleming Island (Orange Park) (4S) (2-1) – 6; Lake Minneola (Minneola) (4S) (1-2) – 4; Leesburg (3S) (3-1) – 2; New Smyrna Beach (4S) (3-0) – 1.