Mike Ridaught
For the eighth straight week, the Mainland (Daytona Beach) football team remained on top of the all-classification regional rankings.
The Bucs, who were off last week, received nine of the 13 first-place votes to stay No. 1 in The Prep Zone Power Poll.
Mainland (6-0), which has wins against No. 7 DeLand, No. 9 Raines (Jacksonville), No. 12 Bartram Trail (St. Johns), and RV (receiving votes) Lake Minneola, will host Deltona for Homecoming on Thursday night.
Buchholz (Gainesville) received the other four first-place votes.
The Bobcats (6-0), who are still No. 2 following a 35-7 win against city rival Gainesville last Thursday, play at Oakleaf (Orange Park) in a Class 4S-District 3 game on Friday night.
Class 3S Mainland and 4S Buchholz are both ranked No. 1 in their respective classes in the USA Today Florida Network state rankings.
Following a 49-13 win at 2M Gibbs (St. Pete), Hawthorne created a small separation and into sole possession of third place.
The defending 1R state champions edged new No. 4 St. Augustine, 227-225, in total voting points, dropping the 3S No. 2 Yellow Jackets (6-0) one spot despite a 49-30 win at rival Nease (Ponte Vedra).
Rounding out the top five is Bradford (Starke). They are still fifth following a 12-0 win at Oakleaf.
The 2S No. 3 Tornadoes (6-0), who are allowing just 4.3 points per game, travel to 1M RV True North Classical Academy (Miami) in a battle of unbeaten teams for a 3:30 p.m. kick on Friday afternoon.
Suwannee (Live Oak) moved up three spots from ninth to sixth following a 49-7 win against Santa Fe (Alachua).
The Bulldogs (6-0), who are ranked at No. 7 in 2S, have a big game at 1A No. 3 Madison County, which moved up one spot to No. 18 in this week’s poll.
DeLand is seventh, while Vanguard (Ocala), Raines (Jacksonville) and Williston round out the top 10.
The 10th-ranked Red Devils are one of five teams in the Mainstreet Daily News coverage area who are in this week’s top 10, along with top five teams Buchholz, Hawthorne, and Bradford, plus No. 9 Suwannee.
Williston rallied past Newberry, 24-22, on a Statue of Liberty play with 47 seconds to play.
The Red Devils (7-0), who are off this week, and the Hornets (6-0), who host Union County (Lake Butler), are in a loaded 1R-Region 4.
Two other area teams are receiving votes.
Columbia (Lake City), which has losses to No. 2 Buchholz and No. 15 Trinity Christian (Jacksonville), and on the road at No. 7 DeLand and No. 18 Madison County, has won two in a row.
Last week, the Tigers (2-4) knocked off previous No. 17 Bolles (Jacksonville), 35-31, dropping the Bulldogs (3-4) out of the rankings.
Fort White is also still receiving votes. The Indians (5-1) bounced back from a 42-7 loss at home against Williston on Sept. 22 to shut out previously RV Lafayette (Mayo), 35-0, on the road.
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 #8
(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) (9) (6-0) – 256
2. Buchholz (Gainesville) (4S) (4) (6-0) – 246
3. Hawthorne (1R) (6-0) – 227
4. St. Augustine (3S) (6-0) – 225
5. Bradford (Starke) (2S) (6-0) – 196
6. Suwannee (Live Oak) (2S) (6-0) – 160
7. DeLand (4S) (5-1) – 159
8. Vanguard (Ocala) (3S) (6-1) – 157
9. Raines (Jacksonville) (2M) (5-1) – 149
10. Williston (1R) (7-0) – 142
11. University (Orange City) (4S) (6-0) – 136
12. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (4S) (3-3) – 119
13. Ponte Vedra (4S) (5-1) – 93
14. South Sumter (Bushnell) (2S) (6-1) – 90
15. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (1M) (4-3) – 73
16. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (4M) (5-2) – 64
17. University Christian (Jacksonville) (1M) (4-2) – 59
18. Madison County (1R) (3-1) – 51
19. Providence (Jacksonville) (1M) (6-1) – 33
20. Riverside (Jacksonville) (2M) (5-2) – 19
Also receiving votes: Lake Minneola (Minneola) (4S) (4-3) – 17; Leesburg (3S) (6-1) – 16; Creekside (St. Johns) (4S) (3-3) – 11; Bolles (Jacksonville) (2M) (3-4) – 9; Columbia (Lake City) (3S) (2-4) – 8; Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (2M) (4-2) – 7; Fort White (1R) (5-1) – 4; Palatka (2S) (5-1) – 2; New Smyrna Beach (4S) (5-1) – 1; Middleburg (3S) (3-3) – 1.