Marty Pallman
The Buchholz (Gainesville) Bobcats continue to roll through the early part of the 2022 high school football season.
The Bobcats (2-0) blasted Riverview (Sarasota) last Friday night, 45-6, at home and remain atop the Prep Zone Power Poll again this week, receiving ten of the 11 first-place votes.
Buchholz will take on a much-improved Eastside (Gainesville) this Friday at Citizens Field. The Rams are receiving votes this week after blanking Keystone Heights 26-0 last week to go to 2-0.
Staying at No.2 is Trinity Christian (Jacksonville). The Conquerors (2-0) overcame 200 penalty yards last week to take care of No.12 Raines (Jacksonville) 41-28. Trinity Christian receives the other first-place vote this week.
Trinity Christian warms up for a showdown with No. 3 Bolles (Jacksonville) next week by traveling to North Florida Educational Institute (Jacksonville) today.
Speaking of Bolles, they remain at No. 3. The Bulldogs improved to 2-0 by rallying past
Mandarin (Jacksonville) 27-20. Bolles will head into South Georgia this week to take on Brunswick (GA). Brunswick is ranked No. 16 in Georgia AAAAAA classification.
Hawthorne moves up a spot to No. 4 despite having their game against P.K. Yonge (Gainesville) canceled last week to COVID hitting the Blue Wave program. Hawthorne will now play P.K. Yonge on Sept. 23.
The Hornets (1-0) hit the road again this week to take on Terry Parker (Jacksonville).
Rounding out the top five is Mainland (Daytona Beach). The Bucs (1-0) had a bye last week after beating DeLand, 42-29, in week one. Mainland faces a tough test this week as No. 7 Bartram Trail (St. Johns) comes to town.
Madison County starts off the second five this week. The Cowboys (2-0) move up a spot to No. 6 after rolling through Godby (Tallahassee), 35-8.
Bartram Trail (2-0) drops a spot despite a 38-27 road win against Seabreeze (Daytona Beach). The Bears head right back to Daytona this Friday for the showdown with Mainland.
Fleming Island (Orange Park) moves up three slots into the top 10 at No. 8 after blasting Rickards (Tallahassee), 51-20, in the state capitol.
Vanguard (Ocala) drops five spots to No. 9 as the Knights (1-1) took the six-hour bus ride to Niceville but came up short, 15-7.
North Marion (Citra) rounds out the top 10. The Colts (2-0) also rise four spots this week after a 35-0 blowout of then-No. 19 Dunnellon.
Chiefland moved up two spots to No. 13 after blasting West Oaks Academy (Orlando), 45-0, at home last Friday.
Bradford (Starke) also improved from No. 19T last week to No. 16 with its first official win of the season when the Tornadoes pounded Baldwin at home, 35-0.
New to the rankings this week are No. 15 Creekside (St. Johns), No. 17 Trinity Catholic (Ocala), No. 19 Lake Minneola (Minneola), and two teams tied for 20th — Ed White (Jacksonville) and St. Augustine.
Creekside is off to a 2-0 start after blasting Viera and then-No. 16T Nease (Ponte Vedra) by a combined score of 111-41.
Trinity Catholic moves back into the rankings as they rebounded from a tough week one loss at Florida High (Tallahassee) by knocking off Clearwater Central Catholic, 35-27.
Dropping out from last week are Columbia (Lake City), who is 0-2 after losing 31-27 at Received Votes (RV) Union County (Lake Butler). Nease, Riverside (Jacksonville), and Dunnellon also drop out this week.
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 #3
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, current record, and total voting points)
(Mainstreet Daily News coverage area teams in bold)
1. Buchholz (Gainesville) (4S) (10) (2-0) – 219
2. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (1M) (1) (2-0) – 208
3. Bolles (Jacksonville) (2M) (2-0) – 200
4. Hawthorne (1R) (1-0) – 164
5. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (3S) (1-0) – 160
6. Madison County (1R) (2-0) – 158
7. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (4S) (2-0) – 151
8. Fleming Island (Orange Park) (4S) (2-0) – 145
9. Vanguard (Ocala) (3S) (1-1) – 142
10. North Marion (Citra) (2S) (2-0) – 99
11. University Christian (Jacksonville) (1M) (2-0) – 91
12. Raines (Jacksonville) (2M) (1-1) – 71
13. Chiefland (1R) (2-0) – 66
14. Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (2S) (1-0) – 65
15. Creekside (St. Johns) (4S) (2-0) – 63
16. Bradford (Starke) (2S) (1-0) – 50
17. Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (1S) (1-1) – 33
18. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (4S) (1-1) – 32
19. Lake Minneola (Minneola) (4S) (2-0) – 31
20T. Ed White (Jacksonville) (2M) (1-1) – 24
20T. St. Augustine (3S) (1-1) – 24
Also receiving votes: Riverside (Jacksonville) (2M) (2-0) – 20; South Sumter (Bushnell) (2S) (2-0) – 18; Flagler Palm Coast (4S) (1-0) – 14; Union County (Lake Butler) (1R) (1-1) – 13; Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville) (2M) (2-1) – 11; Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (2M) (2-0) – 11; Eastside (Gainesville) (2S) (2-0) – 7; Columbia (Lake City) (3S) (0-2) – 6; Wildwood (1R) (2-0) – 6; Belleview (3S) (2-0) – 3; Palatka (2S) (2-0) – 2; Newberry (1R) (2-0) – 1.