
An exciting slate of football state championship games in Tallahassee last week capped another season of high school football in Florida.
And a team that came up just a few points short of a title in 2022 returned to the championship game and this time went home with a championship.
Mainland (Daytona Beach), who lost to Lake Wales 32-30 in the 3S title game a year ago, returned to the championship game at Bragg Memorial Stadium on the Florida A&M campus to take on then-No. 2 St. Augustine. The Bucs (14-1) kicked a field goal on the last play of the game to edge the Yellow Jackets, 21-19, and win Mainland’s first state title since 2003.
This allowed Mainland, who was No. 1 most of the season, to return to the top of the final rankings as the Bucs received nine of the 11 first-place votes. Their other two votes were second-place votes.
Finishing at No. 2 are the Hawthorne Hornets, who won their second consecutive state title by defeating No. 8 Madison County, 22-13, in Tallahassee. The Hornets (13-0), who advanced to their fourth straight championship game, extended their state-leading winning streak to 25 games and picked up the other two first-place votes to finish second.
St. Augustine finished third. The Yellow Jackets (13-1) advanced to their first state title game since 2007 and led most of the game against Mainland before the Bucs kicked the field goal on the final play of the contest. St. Augustine drops one spot from the last poll.Â
Previous-No. 1 Buchholz (Gainesville) ended at No. 4. The Bobcats (13-1) advanced to the state semifinal round for the third straight year. And for the third straight year, Buchholz came up short for its first state title since 1990, this time 21-20 to Lakeland at Citizens Field. Lakeland went on to beat Venice, 60-48, in the 4S title game for their second consecutive state championship.
Rounding out the top five is another state runner-up, Bradford (Starke). The Tornadoes (14-1) advanced to their first state championship game since 1985. But Cocoa, the team that knocked Bradford out in the state semifinals in 2022, defeated the Tornadoes in the 2S title game as the Tigers repeated as state champs. But Bradford had a historic season with a program-best 14 wins as they came up just short of their first football state title since 1966.
Starting off the second five is another state finalist in Mandarin (Jacksonville). The Mustangs (11-4) move up ten spots from the previous poll after winning four consecutive road games at Winter Park, Lake Mary, Seminole (Sanford), and Monarch (Coconut Creek) to advance to their second state title game appearance. But unlike in 2018 when Mandarin edged Columbus (Miami), 37-35, this time the Mustangs came up short 38-19 against Columbus.
DeLand finishes at No.7. The Bulldogs (11-3) advanced to the 4S state semifinal, where they were beaten by Venice. Venice finished as 4S state runners-up for the second consecutive year to Lakeland.
Madison County ends up at No. 8Â after advancing to the 1R state championship game. The Cowboys (10-2) came up short against Hawthorne but still moved up three spots from the previous poll.Â
South Sumter (Bushnell) finishes at No. 9Â after losing to Cocoa in a 2S regional final, and Williston rounds out the top ten. The Red Devils (11-1) dropped four spots as they were knocked out in the Region 3-1R final by Hawthorne, 34-16.Â
The highlight of the second 10 is Trinity Catholic (Ocala). The Celtics, who had a 3-7 regular season with a brutal schedule, defeated First Baptist Academy (Naples) to advance to the 1S state championship game for the second straight year. And while Trinity Catholic came up short for the second straight year, this time to Cardinal Mooney (Sarasota), it was enough to get the Celtics (6-8) into the final poll at No. 17.
Other teams in the Mainstreet Daily News coverage area that received votes were Columbia (Lake City), Fort White, Newberry, and Union County (Lake Butler).
Trinity Catholic is the only team new to this week’s rankings. The Celtics replace Leesburg, who lost at Lake Wales,17-10, in the 3S region semifinal.
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 – 2023 FOOTBALL POLL #14 (FINAL POLL)
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, final 2023 record, and total voting points)
Teams in bold are inside the Mainstreet Daily News coverage area.
1. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (3S) (9) (14-1) – 218
2. Hawthorne (1R) (2) (13-0) – 202
3. St. Augustine (3S) (13-1) – 195
4. Buchholz (Gainesville) (4S) (13-1) – 186
5. Bradford (Starke) (2S) (14-1) – 177
6. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (4M) (11-4) – 150
7. DeLand (4S) (11-3) – 144
8. Madison County (1R) (10-2) – 134
9. South Sumter (Bushnell) (2S) (11-2) – 116
10. Williston (1R) (11-1) – 104
11. Vanguard (Ocala) (3S) (11-3) – 101
12. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (1M) (9-4) – 91
13. Raines (Jacksonville) (2M) (10-2) – 86
14. Bartram Trail (St. Johns) (4S) (8-5) – 67
15T. Lake Minneola (Minneola) (4S) (9-4) – 66
15T. University (Orange City) (4S) (10-2) – 66
17. Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (1S) (6-8) – 57
18. Bolles (Jacksonville) (2M) (8-6) – 53
19. Ponte Vedra (4S) (8-4) – 32
20. Riverside (Jacksonville) (2M) (9-3) – 22
Also receiving votes: Baker County (Glen St. Mary) (2S) (8-4) – 9; Union County (Lake Butler) (1R) (8-4) – 7; Columbia (Lake City) (3S) (4-6) – 5; Dunnellon (2S) (8-4) – 1; Fort White (1R) (9-2) – 1; Newberry (1R) (9-3) – 1.