Marty Pallman
With only two weeks remaining in the high school football regular season, there is some movement and shuffling of teams at the top of the Prep Zone Power Poll.
Staying at No. 1 for the second straight week however is the Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) Conquerors.
Trinity Christian (8-0), who basically wrapped up the District 1-1M title with a 20-13 triumph over No. 6 University Christian (Jacksonville) on Oct. 14, rolled past Christ’s Church Academy (Jacksonville), 47-14, to stay unbeaten and pick up six of the nine first-place votes this week.
The Conquerors close the regular season with two home games against Providence (Jacksonville) this Friday and Munroe (Quincy) next week.
Moving up to No. 2 and receiving the other three first-place votes is Bartram Trail (St. Johns). The Bears (8-0) stayed unbeaten and handed then-No. 2 Buchholz (Gainesville) it’s first loss of the season last week, 21-6. The victory over Buchholz basically clinched the District 3-4S title for Bartram Trail, despite a game left this Friday at Oakleaf (Orange Park).
Buchholz drops into a tie for third place after the loss to Bartram Trail. The Bobcats (6-1) dropped from the ranks of the unbeaten but are still in prime position for a playoff spot with games remaining against Fleming Island (Orange Park) and next week at No. 13 Bolles (Jacksonville).
Bradford (Starke) is tied with Buchholz at No. 3. The Tornadoes (8-0) stayed unbeaten with a 44-0 pasting of Dunnellon. Bradford will play at Palatka for the District 6-2S title this Friday.
Rounding out the top five is another unbeaten, the Hawthorne Hornets. Hawthorne (7-0) eased past No.20 North Marion (Citra) 13-0 to stay undefeated. The Hornets have this week off before closing the regular season next Friday at home against Astronaut (Titusville).
University Christian leads off the second five this week, moving up a spot to No. 6. Raines (Jacksonville) also is up a slot to No. 7 and the Vikings face a battle for the District 1-2M title this week against No. 11 Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville).
Mainland (Daytona Beach) drops down two spots to No. 8 after losing 33-6 at Osceola (Kissimmee).
Lake Minneola (Minneola) and undefeated South Sumter (Bushnell) round out the top 10 again this week.
There are no new teams making their debut in the rankings this week.
THE PREP ZONE POWER POLL – 2022 FOOTBALL POLL #9
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, current record, and total voting points)
Teams in bold are inside the Mainstreet Daily News coverage area.
1. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (1M) (6) (8-0) – 177
2. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (4S) (3) (8-0) – 174
3T. Bradford (Starke) (2S) (8-0) – 149
3T. Buchholz (Gainesville) (4S) (6-1) – 149
5. Hawthorne (1R) (7-0) – 147
6. University Christian (Jacksonville) (1M) (8-1) – 136
7. Raines (Jacksonville) (2M) (6-1) – 127
8. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (3S) (5-2) – 112
9. Lake Minneola (Minneola) (4S) (7-1) – 109
10. South Sumter (Bushnell) (2S) (8-0) – 92
11. Andrew Jackson (Jacksonville) (2M) (7-1) – 90
12. Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (1S) (5-2) – 80
13. Bolles (Jacksonville) (2M) (5-3) – 77
14. Creekside (St. Johns) (4S) (6-2) – 58
15. Ed White (Jacksonville) (2M) (5-2) – 39
16. Vanguard (Ocala) (3S) (5-3) – 35
17. Chiefland (1R) (5-1) – 30
18. Columbia (Lake City) (3S) (5-3) – 28
19. Williston (1R) (8-0) – 22
20. North Marion (Citra) (2S) (6-3) – 16
Also receiving votes: Fletcher (Neptune Beach) (3M) (6-2) – 12; Baldwin (2S) (7-1) – 11; Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (2M) (7-1) – 11; St. Augustine (3S) (5-3) – 5; Union County (Lake Butler) (1R) (5-2) – 4; DeLand (4S) (4-3) – 3; Flagler Palm Coast (4S) (6-3) – 2; Fleming Island (Orange Park) (4S) (4-3) – 1.