Buchholz tops latest regional power poll

Williston football breaks huddle
Undefeated Williston received votes in this week's regional power poll. (Photo by C.J. Gish)
Photo by C.J. Gish

With Hurricane Ian in the rear-view mirror, the high school football season continues to roll toward the postseason. 

For the Buchholz Bobcats, who are the top team in the latest Prep Zone Power Poll, their schedule is just warming up. 

Buchholz (5-0) routed city rival Gainesville, 49-0, last Thursday at Citizens Field and remains unbeaten and on top of the rankings, receiving seven of the 10 first-place votes this week.

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The schedule picks up for Buchholz, with District 3-4S games against Oakleaf (Orange Park) tonight, at No. 3 Bartram Trail (St. Johns) and the home finale against RV (receiving votes) Fleming Island (Orange Park) before closing the regular season in a non-district matchup at No. 15T Bolles (Jacksonville). 

Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) remains right on the Bobcats’ heels as the Conquerors improved to 6-0 with a tough 30-14 win at Riverside (Jacksonville). Trinity Christian receives two first place votes and faces a showdown at home against undefeated No.4 University Christian (Jacksonville) for the District 1-1M title. 

Bartram Trail (St. Johns) remains at No. 3 after their defense dominated then-No. 12 Fleming Island (Orange Park) 17-0. That came a week after the Bears (6-0) scored 59 points in a rout of rival RV St. Augustine. Bartram Trail receives the final first-place vote but stays within striking distance of the top two. 

University Christian switches spots with Hawthorne and is now No. 4. The Christians (7-0) picked up two wins since the last poll against Providence (Jacksonville) and North Florida Educational (Jacksonville). But the real challenge for UC comes with their trip to Trinity Christian this Friday for the district title. 

Hawthorne rounds out the top five. The Hornets (5-0) struggled but got past Gibbs (St. Petersburg), 21-12, in a game moved to Tuesday due to the hurricane. Hawthorne has a tough test of its own this week on the road against No. 19 Union County (Lake Butler). x

Leading off the second 10 is No. 6 Bradford (Starke). The Tornadoes (6-0) picked up two wins — 38-0 at rival Keystone Heights and then off the field were awarded a 21-0 win over Baker County (Glen St. Mary) from their game that was delayed due to weather in week one. 

Mainland (Daytona Beach) remains at No. 7 and Raines (Jacksonville) is No. 8, followed by ninth-ranked Creekside (St. Johns) and Lake Minneola (Minneola), who moved up four slots and back into the top 10 after a 49-7 romp over West Port (Ocala). 

Other local teams in the top 20 power poll include No. 13T Chiefland (5-0), who defeated Wildwood, 28-20, in overtime, and No. 19 Union County (Lake Butler) who improved to 4-1 following a 42-6 home win over Dixie County (Cross City) last week.

Baldwin (5-1) is the only new team to the rankings this week at No. 20. The Indians make it into the poll after a 20-17 win over Yulee. Fleming Island (Orange Park), who has lost three in a row, is the only team to drop out this week. 

THE PREP ZONE POWER POLL – 2022 FOOTBALL POLL #7

(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, current record, and total voting points)

1. Buchholz (Gainesville) (4S) (7) (5-0) – 197

2. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (1M) (2) (6-0) – 192

3. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (4S) (1) (6-0) – 182

4. University Christian (Jacksonville) (1M) (7-0) – 159

5. Hawthorne (1A) (5-0) – 153

6. Bradford (Starke) (2S) (6-0) – 142

7. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (3S) (4-1) – 136

8. Raines (Jacksonville) (2M) (5-1) – 122

9. Creekside (St. Johns) (4S) (5-1) – 110

10. Lake Minneola (Minneola) (4S) (5-1) – 94

11. South Sumter (Bushnell) (2S) (7-0) – 76

12. Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville) (2M) (5-1) – 75

13T. Chiefland (1R) (5-0) – 50

13T. Vanguard (Ocala) (3S) (3-3) – 50

15T. Bolles (Jacksonville) (2M) (4-3) – 48

15T. Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (1S) (4-2) – 48

17. Ed White (Jacksonville) (2M) (4-2) – 30

18. North Marion (Citra) (2S) (5-2) – 26

19. Union County (Lake Butler) (1R) (4-1) – 25

20. Baldwin (2S) (5-1) – 24

Also receiving votes: Williston (1R) (6-0) – 17; Fletcher (Neptune Beach) (3M) (5-2) – 16; Springstead (Spring Hill) (4S) (7-0) – 13; Eastside (Gainesville) (2S) (4-1) – 11; Fleming Island (Orange Park) (4S) (3-3); Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (2M) (6-1) – 8; St. Augustine (3S) (4-3) – 4; DeLand (4S) (3-2) – 2. 

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