The Raines (Jacksonville) Vikings held on to the No. 1 spot in The Prep Zone Football Power Poll by a hair over St. Augustine.
In last week’s poll, Raines and St. Augustine both had five first-place votes and the Vikings stayed on top by one point over the Yellow Jackets, 213-212.
But after a 51-3 romp at a 7A-ranked team in Lake Mary, Raines moved farther ahead of St. Augustine this week to remain the top-ranked team. The Vikings (3-0) received nine of the 10 first-place votes and were second in the other poll and stay on top for the fifth straight week.
St. Augustine (4-0) found themselves in quite a battle before holding off winless Riverside (Jacksonville), 47-41. This may have been a trap game for the Yellow Jackets, who won at No. 3 Bolles (Jacksonville), 40-35, the previous week and travel to their rival, fourth-ranked Nease (Ponte Vedra), on Friday night. St. Augustine received the other first-place vote.
Bolles rebounded from the St. Augustine loss with a 36-0 romp at rival then-No. 16 Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville). The Bulldogs (3-1) face another huge test on Friday at sixth-ranked Oakleaf (Orange Park).
Nease (4-0) stayed unbeaten with a 22-6 triumph at then-RV (receiving votes) Fletcher (Neptune Beach). Nease now gets an even bigger test against St. Augustine.
Buchholz (Gainesville) dropped a spot this week, but rounds out the top five. The Bobcats (3-1) suffered a home loss to Manatee a year ago, but travelled to Bradenton and beat the Hurricanes, 30-13, last Friday. Buchholz will continue their revenge tour this week, hosting Richmond Hill (GA), who they lost to 35-28 last year in Georgia.
Oakleaf stays at No. 6 despite a huge 35-26 home win against then-No. 11 Hawthorne. Hawthorne (3-1) fell to No. 14 in the rankings.
Mandarin (Jacksonville) also had a big 14-7 win over then-No. 8 Bradford (Starke), avenging a loss to the Tornadoes a year ago. With the loss, Bradford (3-1) drops to 12th in this poll.
Spruce Creek (Port Orange) is the big mover this week, up five spots to No. 8. The Hawks (4-0) pulled off a 20-16 win at then-No. 9T Mainland (Daytona Beach). Mainland (2-1) drops to No. 13 after the setback.
Another unbeaten, Columbia (Lake City), also moves up five spots into the top 10 to No. 9. The Tigers improved to 4-0 with a 9-0 shutout at then-No. 17 Madison County. Columbia hosts RV (receiving votes) Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) this week.
Vanguard (Ocala) rounds out the top 10. The Knights (3-1) won their district opener, 42-3, over Leesburg.
Among the Mainstreet Daily News area teams in the second 10 are Bradford, Hawthorne, and Eastside (Gainesville). The Rams (3-1) move into the poll for the first time this season after beating Trinity Catholic (Ocala) on the road, 33-17.
Chiefland, Trenton and Williston are receiving votes.
New to the poll this week, besides Eastside, are Beachside (St. Johns) at No. 18 and 19th-ranked The Villages.
Beachside (3-1) defeated rival then-No. 20 Ponte Vedra 33-20 in its district opener, while The Villages (4-0) crushed Citrus (Inverness), 72-0.
Bishop Kenny, Madison County and Ponte Vedra drop out of last week’s top 20 poll.
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 – 2025 FOOTBALL POLL #5
(School, followed by classification, first-place votes, current record, and total voting points)
Teams in the Mainstreet Daily News coverage area are in bold
1. Raines (Jacksonville) (3A) (9) (3-0) – 199
2. St. Augustine (4A) (1) (4-0) – 180
3. Bolles (Jacksonville) (2A) (3-1) – 172
4. Nease (Ponte Vedra) (6A) (4-0) – 167
5. Buchholz (Gainesville) (6A) (3-1) – 159
6. Oakleaf (Orange Park) (6A) (4-0) – 153
7. Mandarin (Jacksonville) (6A) (4-0) – 137
8. Spruce Creek (Port Orange) (7A) (4-0) – 118
9. Columbia (Lake City) (4A) (4-0) – 109
10. Vanguard (Ocala) (4A) (3-1) – 108
11. DeLand (7A) (4-0) – 107
12. Bradford (Starke) (2A) (3-1) – 83
13. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (5A) (2-1) – 72
14. Hawthorne (Rural) (3-1) – 71
15. Ed White (Jacksonville) (4A) (3-0) – 68
16. South Sumter (Bushnell) (3A) (3-1) – 48
17. University Christian (Jacksonville) (1A) (3-1) – 35
18. Beachside (St. Johns) (5A) (3-1) – 16
19. The Villages (4-0) – 12
20. Eastside (Gainesville) (3A) (3-1) – 11
Also receiving votes: Taylor County (Perry) (Rural) (4-0) – 9; Chiefland (Rural) (3-1) – 7; Madison County (Rural) (1-3) – 7; Baldwin (2A) (4-0) – 6; Bishop Kenny (Jacksonville) (3A) (2-1) – 5; Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) (1A) (1-3) – 5; Williston (Rural) (2-1) – 5; Fleming Island (Orange Park) (5A) (3-1) – 4; Middleburg (4A) (4-0) – 3; Trenton (Rural) (4-0) – 2; Yulee (3A) (4-0) – 2; New Smyrna Beach (4A) (2-1) – 1.