The Bradford (Starke) Tornadoes had a well-earned bye week last Friday coming off their 18-13 upset win over Mandarin (Jacksonville) the previous week.
Despite being off, the Tornadoes (4-0) benefited from losses by No. 2T St. Augustine, No. 4 Mandarin and No. 5 Buchholz. Bradford is now an almost unanimous choice as the top-ranked team in The Prep Zone Power Poll, which ranks the top 20 high school football teams across 26 counties in Florida.
Bradford receives 11 of 12 first-place votes. Due to Hurricane Helene, their homecoming game was moved to Wednesday night, and the Tornadoes blanked Keystone Heights 40-0.
Raines (Jacksonville) remains at No. 2. The Vikings (4-0) also had a bye last week and picked up the other first-place vote. Raines hosts Riverside (Jacksonville) on Monday.
Moving up to the third spot is Nease (Ponte Vedra). The Panthers stayed unbeaten at 4-0 after going on the road and knocking off St. Augustine, 35-34, in overtime. Nease has another tough matchup with No. 8T Buchholz (Gainesville) in a game that has been moved to Monday.
St. Augustine (3-1) falls to No. 4 after the OT loss to rival Nease. St. Augustine rebounded with a 27-6 win at receiving votes (RV) Columbia (Lake City) in another game that was moved to Wednesday due to Helene.
Rounding out the top five this week is Bolles (Jacksonville). The Bulldogs won a shootout for the second week in a row, this time rallying past RV Oakleaf (Orange Park), 57-50.
Hawthorne (4-1) won their second game in a row since the loss at Florida High (Tallahassee), this time winning on the road 26-20 at RV South Sumter (Bushnell). The Hornets lead off the second five this week at No. 6.
DeLand is seventh, followed by Buchholz, which is tied with Madison County for the No. 8 spot.
Buchholz (3-2) dropped its second straight game, traveling to Savannah and losing a close game 35-28 at Richmond Hill (GA).
Madison County (4-1) easily knocked off Bay (Panama City), 42-14.
Rounding out the top 10 is another team who lost its second straight game, Mandarin (Jacksonville). The Mustangs (3-2) lost 49-6 to the No. 1 team in Florida, according to MaxPreps, IMG Academy (Bradenton).
Among the Mainstreet Daily News area teams in the second 10 are 15th-ranked Chiefland and No. 16 Union County (Lake Butler). Both teams remain unbeaten.
Chiefland’s game at Trenton was canceled, while Union County’s game against Paxon (Jacksonville) was postponed.
Receiving votes are Columbia and Newberry.
Oakleaf (3-2) drops out this week. The Knights are replaced by Middleburg, which is ranked No. 19 after a 5-0 start to their 2024 season.
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 #6
(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. Bradford (Starke) (2A) (11) (4-0) – 232
2. Raines (Jacksonville) (3A) (1) (4-0) – 226
3. Nease (Ponte Vedra) (6A) (4-0) – 217
4. St. Augustine (5A) (3-1) – 187
5. Bolles (Jacksonville) (2A) (3-1) – 169
6. Hawthorne (Rural) (4-1) – 164
7. DeLand (7A) (4-1) – 150
8T. Buchholz (Gainesville) (6A) (3-2) – 146
8T. Madison County (Rural) (4-1) – 146
10. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (6A) (3-2) – 141
11. Vanguard (Ocala) (4A) (4-1) – 128
12. University (Orange City) (7A) (4-1) – 93
13. Ponte Vedra (5A) (3-1) – 70
14. Dunnellon (3A) (3-2) – 64
15. Chiefland (Rural) (5-0) – 62
16. Union County (Lake Butler) (Rural) (5-0) – 53
17. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (6A) (3-2) – 49
18. Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (3A) (3-1) – 44
19. Middleburg (5A) (5-0) – 23
20. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (7A) (3-2) – 21
Also receiving votes: Flagler Palm Coast (7A) (4-0) – 17; Springstead (Spring Hill) (5A) (4-0) – 16; Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (1A) (3-2) – 16; Beachside (St. Johns) (5A) (3-1) – 13; Taylor County (Perry) (2A) (5-0) – 12; Columbia (Lake City) (4A) (2-3) – 9; Deltona (4A) (1-3) – 8; Oakleaf (Orange Park) (6A) (3-2) – 8; South Sumter (Bushnell) (3A) (1-4) – 5; Leesburg (4A) (4-1) – 3; Palatka (2A) (4-1) -3; University Christian (Jacksonville) (1A) (2-3) – 3; Newberry (2A) (2-2) – 2.