Mike Ridaught
Mother Nature had her way last week in Gainesville.
Buchholz’s game against city rival Eastside was called late in the first quarter, with the Bobcats leading 7-0, due to weather. After attempts to play the game at a later date failed, the game ended as a no-contest.
Buchholz remained on top of The Prep Zone Power Poll despite the cancellation.
However, the Bobcats lost a couple of first-place votes in the process as they received eight of the 11 first-place votes.
Buchholz did hold on to the top spot in the all-classification regional rankings, but No. 2 Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) received the other three top votes to close the gap.
The Bobcats (2-0) edged the Conquerors (3-0), 217-212, in total voting points.
Buchholz is ranked second in the state in Class 4S by MaxPreps while Trinity Christian is ranked third in Class 1M.
Both teams have big games this week as top-ranked Buchholz travels to No. 12 Creekside (St. Johns) for a Class 4S-District 3 game and Trinity Christian hosts previous No. 3 Bolles (Jacksonville), which dropped to sixth in this week’s rankings following a 20-3 loss at Brunswick (GA).
Bartram Trail (St. Johns), which is in a loaded district with Buchholz, moved up four spots to No. 3 following a 17-3 win at previous No. 5 Mainland (Daytona), which tumbled six spots to No. 11.
Hawthorne, which is ranked second in Class 1R, remained fourth following a 36-18 win at Terry Parker (Jacksonville).
Fleming Island (Orange Park) rounds out the top five. The Golden Eagles, who are ranked ninth in Class 4S, moved up three spots after a 19-14 win at Nease (Ponte Vedra).
Bolles (2-1) leads off the second five at No. 6, followed by Madison County and Vanguard (Ocala), who are tied for seventh.
North Marion (Citra) and University Christian (Jacksonville) round out the top 10 at ninth and 10th, respectively.
Previous No. 20 St. Augustine (1-2) dropped out of the rankings following a 34-14 loss on a neutral field to AAAAA No. 8 Coffee (Douglas, GA) and Flagler Palm Coast (2-0) took their spot at No. 20 after a 35-14 winat previous #18 Spruce Creek (Port Orange), which also dropped out.
Other teams in Mainstreet’s coverage area that are in the top 20 include No. 16 Bradford (Starke) (2-0), which plays at RV Eastside on Friday, and No. 19 Chiefland (3-0), which travels to Dixie County (Cross City). Columbia (Lake City) and Union County (Lake Butler) are receiving votes.
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 – 2022 FOOTBALL POLL #4
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, current record, and total voting points)
Teams in Mainstreet Daily News coverage area are in bold.
1. Buchholz (Gainesville) (4S) (8) (2-0) – 217
2. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (1M) (3) (3-0) – 212
3. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (4S) (3-0) – 192
4. Hawthorne (1R) (2-0) – 186
5. Fleming Island (Orange Park) (4S) (3-0) – 167
6. Bolles (Jacksonville) (2M) (2-1) – 165
7T. Madison County (1R) (2-1) – 126
7T. Vanguard (Ocala) (3S) (2-1) – 126
9. North Marion (Citra) (2S) (3-0) – 106
10. University Christian (Jacksonville) (1M) (3-0) – 102
11. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (3S) (1-1) – 101
12. Creekside (St. Johns) (4S) (3-0) – 99
13. Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (2S) (2-0) – 86
14. Raines (Jacksonville) (2M) (2-1) – 79
15. Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (1S) (2-1) – 74
16. Bradford (Starke) (2S) (2-0) – 63
17T. Lake Minneola (Minneola) (4S) (3-0) – 44
17T. Ed White (Jacksonville) (2M) (2-1) – 44
19. Chiefland (1R) (3-0) – 43
20. Flagler Palm Coast (4S) (2-0) – 22
Also receiving votes: South Sumter (Bushnell) (2S) (3-0) – 15; Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville) (2M) (3-1) – 12; Columbia (Lake City) (3S) (1-2) – 10; Union County (Lake Butler) (1R) (1-1) – 5; Eastside (Gainesville) (2S) (2-0) – 4; Palatka (2S) (3-0) – 3; Mandarin (Jacksonville) (4M) (2-1) – 2; Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (2M) (3-0) – 2; Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (4S) (1-2) – 2; Interlachen (3-0) – 1.3; Mandarin (Jacksonville) (4M) (2-1) – 2; Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (2M) (3-0) – 2; Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (4S) (1-2) – 2; Interlachen (3-0) – 1.