Marty Pallman
One week is in the books for the 2023 high school football season. And while the top five remain the same from last week, there was some movement in the regional power poll as five teams received first-place votes.Â
Remaining in the top spot this week is Mainland (Daytona Beach). The Bucs opened their season with a 43-31 triumph at rival RV (receiving votes) DeLand. Mainland stays on top after receiving four of the 11 first-place votes.
Moving up to No. 2 is Buchholz (Gainesville). The Bobcats had no trouble with No. 16 Columbia (Lake City), pounding the Tigers 41-13 in a game that started in Lake City on Friday and was finished in Gainesville after a weather delay and incident at Columbia’s stadium. Buchholz receives a first-place vote and will hit the road again this week to Riverview (Sarasota).
Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) moves up a spot to No. 3. The Conquerors had no problem with Ed White (Jacksonville), 33-8, and pick up two first-place votes this week. Trinity Christian is taking the long trip to South Florida to play American Heritage (Plantation), who pounded St. Johns (Washington, D.C.), 45-20, in their opener and are ranked ninth overall statewide and No. 17 nationally, according to Max Preps.
Hawthorne drops two spots to No. 4 despite opening with a 26-7 win over Middleburg. The Hornets also pick up three first-place votes heading into a showdown at Alachua County rival RV Newberry on Friday.
Rounding out the top five is Bartram Trail (St. Johns). The Bears slipped past rival Ponte Vedra, 20-17, on the road and picked up the final first-place vote of the week.
Bradford (Starke) moves up a spot to start off the second five after pitching a shutout, 12-0, over then-No. 17 Baker County (Glen St. Mary). Baker County drops out of the rankings this week after the loss to the Tornadoes.
Vanguard (Ocala) is up four slots and to No. 7. The Knights edged Erie (Colorado), 26-20, in their opener at Booster Stadium in Ocala. Vanguard hits the road to No. 19 Lake Minneola (Minneola) this Friday.
Raines (Jacksonville) is also up five spots to No. 8 after a big 27-12 win on the road against then-No. 6 University Christian (Jacksonville). The Vikings are off this week.
University Christian drops to No. 13 with the loss.
Trinity Catholic (Ocala) is at No. 9 after their opener against Florida High (Tallahassee) was postponed due to COVID. The Celtics hit the road for a game at last year’s 1M state runner-up Clearwater Central Catholic.
Rounding out the top 10 is the team making the biggest move this week, St. Augustine. The Yellow Jackets move up 10 spots from last week after a back-and-forth 43-36 win on the road against then-No. 9 Bolles (Jacksonville).
Bolles drops just out of the top 10 to No. 11, but faces another tough test this week at No. 14 Mandarin (Jacksonville). The Mustangs move up five spots after pounding Fletcher (Neptune Beach), 43-21.
Also representing the Mainstreet Daily News are No. 15 Suwannee (Live Oak), No. 16 Columbia and No. 17 Union County (Lake Butler).
Suwannee opened with a 33-13 romp over Flagler Palm Coast, but their home game against Hamilton County (Jasper) is postponed this week due to Hurricane Idalia.
Union County pounded Interlachen, 43-0, in their opener, but their game at Columbia this Friday is also canceled due to Idalia. The game has not been rescheduled.
Also receiving votes are Newberry, Williston, and Eastside (Gainesville).
Baldwin and DeLand are new to the poll this week as both teams are tied for 20th.
Baker County is the only team to drop out from week one.Â
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 #2
(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) (4) (1-0) – 212
2. Buchholz (Gainesville) (4S) (1) (1-0) – 199
3. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (1M) (2) (1-0) – 193
4. Hawthorne (1R) (3) (1-0) – 179
5. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (4S) (1) (1-0) – 172
6. Bradford (Starke) (2S) (1-0) – 159
7. Vanguard (Ocala) (3S) (1-0) – 140
8. Raines (Jacksonville) (2M) (1-0) – 135
9. Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (1S) (0-0) – 130
10. St. Augustine (3S) (1-0) – 106
11. Bolles (Jacksonville) (2M) (0-1) – 104
12. South Sumter (Bushnell) (2S) (1-0) – 103
13. University Christian (Jacksonville) (1M) (0-1) – 87
14. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (4M) (1-0) – 85
15. Suwannee (Live Oak) (2S) (1-0) – 58
16. Columbia (Lake City) (3S) (0-1) – 49
17. Union County (Lake Butler) (1R) (1-0)- 46
18. Creekside (St. Johns) (4S) (0-1) – 27
19. Lake Minneola (Minneola) (4S) (0-1) – 21
20T. Baldwin (2S) (1-0) – 17
20T. DeLand (4S) (0-1) – 17
Also receiving votes: Newberry (1R) (1-0) – 16; Williston (1R) (1-0) – 12; Oakleaf (Orange Park) (4S) (1-0) – 8; Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (2S) (0-1) – 7; Eastside (Gainesville) (2S) (1-0) – 4; Fletcher (Neptune Beach) (3S) (0-1) – 4; Madison County (1R) (1-0) – 4; Nature Coast Tech (Brooksville) (2S) (1-0) – 4; Fleming Island (Orange Park) (4S) (1-0) -3; Dunnellon (2S) (1-0) – 1.