The 2025 high school football regular season came to an end last week. And after a bye, many teams get underway this Thursday and Friday in the playoffs.
But there was some movement of teams in the The Prep Zone Football Power Poll in an interesting final week.
Raines (Jacksonville) is once again the No. 1 team in a split vote, as the Vikings finished an undefeated regular season with a 57-0 romp at Atlantic Coast (Jacksonville). Raines (9-0) received four of the 11 first-place votes, and as the No. 1 seed in Region 1-3A, the Vikings will open the playoffs this Friday at home against Baker County (Glen St. Mary).
Raines replaces St. Augustine in the top spot, as the Yellow Jackets (9-1) drop to No. 6 after losing their first game of the season, 27-21, to No. 5 Mandarin (Jacksonville).
Right behind Raines at No. 2 is Buchholz (Gainesville). The Bobcats finished a 9-1 regular season with a thrilling 34-30 win at Cardinal Newman (West Palm Beach). Buchholz earned three first-place votes, and they are the No. 1 seed in Region 1-6A and host Oviedo on Thursday.
DeLand moves up to No. 3 after finishing off a perfect regular season. The Bulldogs (10-0) pounded Lake Gibson (Lakeland), 54-7, and then blanked No. 16T Spruce Creek (Port Orange), 42-0, in a makeup game last Tuesday to win the District 2-7A title. DeLand is the No. 1 seed in Region 1-7A and will host Creekside (St. Johns) this week. The Bulldogs also received three first-place votes.
Bolles (Jacksonville) remains at No. 4. The Bulldogs finished off a 9-1 regular season with a 31-0 romp at No. 13 Columbia (Lake City). Bolles earned the final first-place vote and, as the top seed in Region 1-2A, will open up the postseason at home against Walton (DeFuniak Springs).
Rounding out the top five is Mandarin. The Mustangs also finished off a 9-1 regular season, handing St. Augustine its first loss of the season on the road last week.
St. Augustine leads off the second five, followed by seventh-ranked Nease (Ponte Vedra), No. 8 Bradford (Starke), No. 9 Hawthorne and Oakleaf (Orange Park) also moves back into the top ten at No. 10.
Among the Mainstreet Daily News area teams in the second 10 are 12th-ranked Chiefland, No. 13 Columbia, 18th-ranked Eastside (Gainesville) and Williston at No. 19.
For the first time in the 2025 season, no new teams moved into the poll this week, nor did any teams fall out of the top 20.
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 – 2025 FOOTBALL POLL #12
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, current record, and total voting points)
Teams in the Mainstreet Daily News coverage area are in bold
1. Raines (Jacksonville) (3A)(4) (9-0) – 207
2. Buchholz (Gainesville) (6A) (3) (8-1) – 205
3. DeLand (7A) (3) (10-0) – 197
4. Bolles (Jacksonville) (2A) (1) (9-1) – 191
5. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (6A) (9-1) – 178
6. St. Augustine (4A) (9-1) – 170
7. Nease (Ponte Vedra) (6A) (8-2) – 145
8. Bradford (Starke) (2A) (9-1) – 131
9. Hawthorne (Rural) (7-1) – 116
10. Oakleaf (Orange Park) (6A) (8-2) – 106
11. Vanguard (Ocala) (4A) (8-2) – 87
12. Chiefland (Rural) (9-1) – 79
13. Columbia (Lake City) (4A) (8-2) – 78
14. The Villages (2A) (9-1) – 74
15. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (5A) (7-2) – 70
16T. Ponte Vedra (5A) (8-2) – 61
16T. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (7A) (8-2) – 61
18. Eastside (Gainesville) (3A) (8-2) – 37
19. Williston (Rural) (9-1) – 31
20. South Lake (Groveland) (6A) (9-1) – 20
Also receiving votes: Taylor County (Perry) (Rural) (9-1) – 16; Madison County (Rural) (5-5) – 10; Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (1A) (6-4) – 9; Middleburg (5A) (8-2) – 7; Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (3A) (8-2) – 5; Yulee (3A) (8-2) – 5; Beachside (St. Johns) (5A) (7-3) – 4; Ed White (Jacksonville) (4A) (8-2) – 3; University Christian (Jacksonville) (1A) (7-3) – 3; Matanzas (Palm Coast) (5A) (7-3) – 1.