Marty Pallman
Mother Nature finally cooperated last Friday night and for the first time in the 2022 season, most games were played without delay.
The game of the week took place in St. Johns County, where Buchholz traveled to No. 12 Creekside (St. Johns) In a District 3-4S opener.
Buchholz senior quarterback Creed Whittemore, a UF commit, had over 400 combined yards passing and rushing and also threw three touchdowns while rushing for two more scores. The Bobcats (3-0) needed all of Whittemore’s heroics to slip past Creekside 48-41 in a back-and-forth shootout.
The win earned Buchholz seven of the nine first place votes this week as they stay on top of the regional rankings for a fourth straight week. Buchholz faces another road challenge this week as they travel to No. 5 Vanguard (Ocala).
Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) continued right on Buchholz’s tail this week as the Conquerors improved to 4-0 with a 27-14 win over No. 6 Bolles (Jacksonville). Trinity Christian earned the other two first-place votes and will face another test at home this week at home against RV (received votes) Columbia (Lake City).
Bartram Trail (St. Johns) remains No. 3. The Bears (4-0) continued their road warrior ways, following up the previous week’s win at No. 8 Mainland (Daytona Beach) with a 24-7 win at Lincoln (Tallahassee). Bartram Trail hosts St. Augustine in the annual rivalry game tonight.
Hawthorne stays at No. 4. The Hornets (3-0) remained unbeaten but went into overtime to win 14-11 at Orlando Christian Prep. Hawthorne makes up a game that was supposed to be played in week 2 against P.K. Yonge (Gainesville) tonight.
Rounding out the top five is Vanguard (Ocala). The Knights (3-1), whose only loss came in week 2 at Niceville, moves up two spots after blasting Leesburg, 34-6. That sets up a top-five showdown between Vanguard and top-ranked Buchholz at Booster Stadium in Ocala tonight.
North Marion (Citra) moves up three spots to start the second five after the Colts stayed unbeaten at 4-0 with a 40-6 romp at winless Santa Fe (Alachua). Next up for North Marion is Suwannee (Live Oak) at home here in week 5.
Bolles drops to No. 7 after losing their second game in a row to Trinity Christian. Bolles also lost in the Battle on the Border to Georgia state-ranked Brunswick.
Mainland moves up three spots to No. 8 at the Bucs (2-1) rebounded from a loss to Bartram Trail by rallying past then-No. 20 Flagler Palm Coast, 22-16, in a game moved to Monday due to weather.
University Christian (Jacksonville) moves up to No. 9 after blowing out Christ’s Church (Jacksonville), 56-8. The Christians are 4-0 as they take a road trip to North Georgia this week to face Rabun Gap-Nacoochee.
Rounding out the top 10 this week is Bradford (Starke). The Tornadoes (3-0) are up six spots to No. 10 after handing Eastside (Gainesville) its first loss of the season, 28-0.
Chiefland (4-0) moves up one spot to No. 18 after shutting out Dixie County (Cross City), 35-0, on the road last Friday.
The only team making its debut in the regional rankings this week is No. 19 Oakleaf. The Knights (3-1) won at then-No. 5 Fleming Island (Orange Park) 26-20 in another huge District 3-4S. Fleming Island (3-1) drops eight spots to No. 13 with the setback.
Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville) also moves back in the poll at No. 20 after the Tigers’ fourth straight win, 35-6 over 4S Spruce Creek (Port Orange).
Baker County (Glen St. Mary) drops out after being stunned at home by RV Baldwin, 30-7. Flagler Palm Coast also drops out after the Monday loss at Mainland.
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 #5
(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) (7) (3-0) – 178
2. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (1M) (2) (4-0) – 173
3. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (4S) (4-0) – 162
4. Hawthorne (1R) (3-0) – 149
5. Vanguard (Ocala) (3S) (3-1) – 140
6. North Marion (Citra) (2S) (4-0) – 116
7. Bolles (Jacksonville) (2M) (2-2) – 106
8. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (3S) (2-1) – 94
9. University Christian (Jacksonville) (1M) (4-0) – 89
10. Bradford (Starke) (2S) (3-0) – 84
11. Raines (Jacksonville) (2M) (2-1) – 77
12. Lake Minneola (Minneola) (4S) (4-0) – 73
13. Fleming Island (Orange Park) (4S) (3-1) – 64
14T. Creekside (St. Johns) (4S) (3-1) – 63
14T. Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (1S) (2-1) – 63
16. Ed White (Jacksonville) (2M) (3-1) – 52
17. Madison County (1R) (2-2) – 42
18. Chiefland (1R) (4-0) – 33
19. Oakleaf (Orange Park) (4S) (3-1) – 25
20. Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville) (2M) (4-1) – 23
Also receiving votes: Flagler Palm Coast (4S) (3-1) – 16; South Sumter (Bushnell) (2S) (4-0) – 16; Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (2S) (2-1) – 9; Columbia (Lake City) (3S) (2-2) – 9; Union County (Lake Butler) (1R) (2-1) – 7; Baldwin (2S) (3-1) – 4; Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (2M) (4-0) – 2; Mandarin (Jacksonville) (4M) (3-1) – 2; Wildwood (1R) (3-1) – 1.