It’s the second half of the season and most teams in the area have played at least five games. This is the time when the great teams separate themselves from the good teams. The great players separate themselves from the good players. You must prove it on the field every week, and these teams have separated themselves from the rest through 8 weeks.
#1. Trinity (5-1)- We conducted a poll on Facebook and Twitter asking fans who the hottest team was in the area. The results weren’t surprising. After 5 straight wins including Columbia, American Heritage, and Lee last week, Trinity claims the #1 spot for the first time this year.
#2. Bartram (6-1)- A big come from behind win over Oakleaf continued the Bears trend of mauling local competition. The last loss to a Northeast Florida team was in 2018 (Oakleaf). Bartram’s local dominance is impressive.
#3. Bolles (6-1)- Bolles is back to its winning ways, reeling off 4 in a row. They pulled away from University Christian in the second half of a game that was 20-19 at halftime. Daytona Beach Mainland is on deck for the Bulldogs.
#4. Oakleaf (4-3) – Nease always seems to get the short end of the stick. They got Creekside after their loss to Fleming Island, and they’ve played Creekside, Bartram, St. Augustine and now Oakleaf consecutively. All top 10 teams. Oh yea, we’re supposed to be talking about Oakleaf. The Knights are mad after that Bartram loss!
#5. Lee (3-1)- Lee was unable to stay undefeated falling to Trinity, but they can get back to their winning ways against Gainesville.
#6. Clay (6-0)- The Blue Devils have moved up after their 6-0 start. With each win, Kyle Kennard and company make their case for being number one. A game against Oakleaf is on their radar, but they cant overlook Ridgeview, whose looking to make some noise in the city.
#7. Baker County (6-1) – Bishop Kenny is up next after a win against West Nassau last week.
#8. Creekside (4-2)- This is an interesting game against Buchholz this week for Creekside. After Creekside’s loss to Fleming Island, Fleming lost to Buchholz last week, setting up this matchup that will tell us a lot about the Bobcats bu more so the Knights.
#9- St. Augustine (4-2)- St. Augustine makes it’s way back into the Top 10 after three straight wins. One of those wins, a 27-7 victory over Flagler Palm Coast. Fletcher (4-1) defeated Flagler 13-0. So the Jackets get the edge over Fletcher as a top 10 team. St Augustine has a big game against Ponte Vedra up next.
#10. Baldwin (6-0)- After a bye week, Baldwin retains their #10 spot. Anytime you can be undefeated this late in the season, it’s impressive. They’ll face Yulee tonight, to knock the bye week rust off.
Outside Looking In :
Fletcher (4-1) , Ridgeview (6-1), Mandarin (2-4), Sandalwood (5-1), Hilliard (6-0),
