There’s a new Knight in town on the Duval Sports Power Rankings. After defeating the number one team Oakleaf rides high into week 6. It’s Northwest Classic week, and for the first time Raines nor Ribault sit atop the power rankings. Sandalwood, Baldwin, and Fletcher all have strong cases but just missed the cut. If they take care of business this week, one of them will find themselves in. For now, these 10 teams are the headliners in the race to the top.
#1. Oakleaf (3-2) – The Knights come from behind victory over Fleming Island last week has them atop the power rankings this week. Mandarin (1-3) is up next and they’d love to upset the Knights. So Oakleaf can’t afford a let down like last year when Mandarin stunned them.
#2. Bartram Trail (4-1)- Bartram got a nice bounce back win over rival Ponte Vedra last week. They continue to pull away from good teams with play-making ability. They have Nease (1-4) up next, who will have a pre-game pep talk from Jacksonville Jaguar great Leon Searcy. They’ll need it.
#3. Lee (3-0) –Coming off the bye week, Lee has a familiar foe coming up. They face an 0-3 Columbia team hungry for a win. The Generals have gotten the best of Columbia in the playoffs of late. This will definitely be the hardest hitting game of the night.
#4- Baker County (5-0) – Dismantling Terry Parker, Baker County now has its eyes set on their biggest game of the year so far. It’s the classic “statement” game for them, as they can measure themselves against one of the best in the area in Bolles (3-1).
#5. Fleming Island (4-1)- The overtime loss to a goo Oakleaf team wasn’t bad, but it did knock them from #1 to #5 this week due to other undefeated teams moving up. They’ll look to take it out on First Coast (2-1), which the Bucs seem to be playing with more confidence.
#6 Creekside (3-2) – The Knights defeated Nease 31-17 last week to bounce back from their loss to Fleming Island. They don’t have any Top 10 teams on the schedule remaining, which means style points count if they want to stay in the Top 10.
#7. Bolles (3-1)- Another big test for Bolles, who is no stranger to big games. Trinity Christian, St. Augustine, Creekside, Trinity Catholic are all teams Bolles has faced. This week they face an undefeated Bake County team that has been steam rolling teams. They’d love a signature win to show everyone they’re still the team to beat.
#8 Trinity (3-1) – Trinity travels down to Miami to face the #6 team in the state American Heritage (3-0). American Heritage already traveled up I-95 to Northeast Florida and handed Bartram their only loss, so The Conquerors are looking to return the favor for the area.
#9 Clay (4-0)- The Blue Devils keep on winning and winning impressively. 50-22 win over West Nassau has them riding high into a game against Menendez (2-2).
#10- Columbia (0-3) – After falling to Madison County 12-0, the Tigers seem to be getting better on defense but regressing on offense. They need this win over Lee bad. It’s like a must win game for them. It’s not enough to simply schedule the best teams. Eventually, you have to win one of them.
Outside looking in:
Sandalwood (4-0) , Fletcher (4-1), Baldwin (5-0)
