Ribault and other teams flipped our final power rankings upside down. It’s almost Super Tuesday, but on DuvalSports.com it’s Super Monday and that means its election day for you. It’s time for you to vote for the number one team in North East Florida. But before you cast your vote, check out Andre’ and Corey’s final regular season top 10. It’s been a season of ups and downs for some teams, but the best in the city have remained firm on theses lists.
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Andre’s Top 10
- Bolles (9-0)
- Baker County (8-1)
- Ponte Vedra (9-0)
- Lee (7-1)
- Trinity (7-3)
- Sandalwood (7-1)
- Ribault (5-3)
- Raines (6-2)
- St. Augustine (9-1)
- Bartram Trail (6-4)
Honorable Mention:
University Christian, Columbia, Oakleaf
Bolles remained firmly atop Andre’s rankings all year. Some may say they didn’t have a very difficult schedule and that’s a valid argument but they did beat Miami Jackson, and Raines which is enough to keep the top spot.
Baker County suffered their only loss to Madison County the last week of the season 26-21. Cowboy Country is not a friendly place to play. Just ask the defending state champion 1998 Raines Vikings. But Baker is deserving of this spot after defeating St. Augustine, Clay, and Bishop Kenny this year.
Ponte Vedra ended the year unblemished and undefeated. Their victories over Bartram, Oakleaf and Bishop Kenny proved that they not only could handle their district, but handle playoff contenders outside their district.
Lee went on a winning streak after falling to Raines in week 1. Defeating Columbia in Lake City and Fletcher at the beach cemented them in the tops of both rankings
Trinity may have three losses under their belt but none of them are from teams in North East Florida. They battled the best in the state and still won their district. It’s safe to say that this team is arguably still one of the best in our area. But until they play more teams in Duval it’s hard to gauge them higher than top 5.
Sandalwood comes in at #6 on Andre’s rankings. A district high scoring affair against Mandarin in which the Saints blew a 23 point lead is the only thing standing in the way of them being undefeated. They dismantled teams this year, including hanging 60 points on Parker in the 2nd quarter. Hopefully we’ll see Sandalwood and Fletcher again real soon to properly gauge how the Saints stack up here in Duval against quality teams.
Ribault is on fire as was indicated in Andre’s ranking last week at #10. Even though they have three losses, those losses were late game melt downs to Miami Norland, Mandarin and Suwanee. But this team experienced a revival with their playoff hopes on the line, defeating Yulee, Suwannee, and then dominating Raines on the road. Can you say “Boom Ribault get hype”…
Raines ends the regular season with two straight losses to district rival Bolles and then to arch rival Ribault. Andre’ wasn’t high on Raines to start the season but the Vikings proved they belonged amongst the area’s elite. They will attempt to prove it again in the playoffs, something they were successful in doing last year after losing to Ribault before rolling to the State Championship game.
St. Augustine suffered a week one loss to Baker County and it fueled them the rest of the season. A win over Bartram looked good on their resume, but after that there is no other team on their schedule that warrants this 9-1 team being higher than #9 in Andre’s rankings.
Bartram Trail comes in at #10 on Andre’s rankings with four losses. But before you criticize this selection look who their opponents were this year. Bishop Kenny, Mainland, Fleming Island, St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra, Buchholz, and Oakleaf. They had arguably the hardest schedule in our area and still managed to make the playoffs gaining 6 wins in the process.
Honorable Mention:
University Christian is a 6-2 team that is definitely one of the best in the city. Unfortunately our only sample to test this thought are losses against Raines in the preseason and Trinity in the regular season. Both games the Christians weren’t particularly competitive in. Their quest for another championship fuels them and they have a good shot to get it.
Columbia rebounded well after losing to Lee. They defeated Fletcher to make the playoffs. It looks like Coach Allen has the team clicking after early season turmoil.
Oakleaf was knocked out of the playoffs again by Bartram Trail in a high scoring district affair. Oakleaf was probably the best team in our area to not make the playoffs besides Mandarin and Fletcher. I’d love to see a bowl game between the Knights and either the Mustangs or Senators.
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Corey’s Top 10
- Bolles (9-0)
- Lee (7-1)
- Baker County (8-1)
- St. Augustine (9-1)
- Trinity (7-3)
- Ponte Vedra (9-0)
- Fort White (8-2)
- University Christian (6-2)
- Matanzas (7-2)
- Columbia (6-3)
Honorable Mention:
Ribault, Sandalwood, Fletcher
St. Augustine- There is an obvious difference in opinion concerning the Yellow Jackets between Andre and Corey, as Corey has them ranked #4. The Jackets are 9-1, and their only loss was to Baker County, a team that proved to be legit. Their win over Bartram and Palatka was impressive and has Corey thinking high on this team’s ability to make some noise in the playoffs.
Fort White has been one of Corey’s favorites teams of late. At 8-2 they come in at #7 after a six game winning streak.
University Christian comes in at #8 just behind Fort White. Even though they defeated the Indians head to head, Corey believed Fort White has had stiffer competition and is playing better ball at this point. UC has shown that when they are clicking they are a very tough team to defeat. And they are clicking right now.
Matanzas finally makes the playoffs at 7-2. Corey knows how significant this accomplishment is for the Pirates seeing that they were 8-2 last year and missed the playoffs all together. Matanzas (Palm Coast) plays in a district with quite possibly the best team in the state, 9-0 Daytona Beach Mainland. Their slightly northern geographical location helps them qualify for Corey’s list instead of Mainland.
Columbia is playing good football after defeating Fletcher to qualify for the playoffs. They come in at #10 and could make lots of noise with the mixture of experience at Quarterback and runningback.
Honorable Mention
Ribault impressed enough to be considered for Corey’s list but not good enough to make the top 10. The glaring disappearance from Raines is evident as well. Said Davis, “Raines looked really bad against Ribault”. Apparently its an indictment on Raine’s lack of execution play and not Ribault’s overall ability
Sandalwood makes honorable mention after squeaking into the playoffs with a shootout. Corey is not a fan of one dimensional teams and the Saints fall into that category.
Fletcher got a big last minute field goal victory over Mandarin. It didn’t mean anything playoff wise, but it went a long was as far as bragging rights are concerned. Fletcher’s two losses to Lee and Columbia were tough breaks for a tough Senator team in Corey’s eyes.
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Vote For Your #1 Team in Duval for the 2016 Regular Season
Check out the final district standings below..
