The Associated Press came out with their classification rankings through week six last evening and here is what the voters settled on. There are some curious no-shows in the rankings, as well as some programs finding themselves in the “others receiving votes” for the first time in forever it seems. Below are the eight individual classes, their rankings and also the teams that received votes–plus a little reaction–see who made it and see who’s salty they’re not a part of the rankings!

CLASS 8A
1. Columbus (6-0)
2. Vero Beach (5-0)
3. Atlantic Community (5-0)
4. Flanagan (4-1)
5. West Orange (5-1)
6. South Dade (5-0)
7. Mandarin (5-0)
8. Apopka (5-1)
9. Kissimmee-Osceola (5-1)
10. Lake Brantley (6-0)
Others:
Fort Pierce Central
Plantation
Sandalwood
Coral Gables
Boca Raton
Manatee
Treasure Coast

The reaction: For the most part–minus Miramar–these teams in the rankings and the “others” category have remained the same since September 1st. No surprise that Apopka fell down the poll following their 28-3 loss to West Orange last week. The Blue Darters lost four games including a regular season loss to West Orange before winning the state title last season so they’re obviously not hitting the panic button while four of the teams ranked come from the I-4 corridor. Four teams hail from two districts in this poll. 8A-1–which has Sandalwood and Mandarin ranked along with 8A-4 featuring West Orange and Apopka. After a loss to Palm Bay-Heritage and a close-call to Ridge Community last week, the Kowboys of Osceola are holding on at the #9 spot. One may think that if not for the loss to Lincoln now 1-5 following last week’s defeat to city neighbors Chiles–a team that had never defeated Lincoln–that Manatee would be much further up this pecking order. Lurking at the bottom of Region-II and the main obstacles for the ‘Canes are three teams from one district–Vero Beach, Treasure Coast and Fort Pierce Central.

 

 

CLASS 7A
1. St. Thomas Aquinas (5-0)
2. Dwyer (5-0)
3. Venice (6-0)
4. Braden River (6-0)
5. Sickles (6-0)
6. Kathleen (6-0)
T7. Bucholz (4-1)
T7. Oakleaf (5-1)
9. Columbia (4-1)
10. Plant (4-2)
Others:
St. Cloud
Mater Academy
Palmetto
Lennard
Martin County
Lakeland
Bartow
Plant City

The reaction:
Call it the poll that’s built by the teams from the coverage area–but call St. Thomas Aquinas the landlord’s since all of the teams aside from the Raiders are just paying rent until December. Four of the ten teams ranked and five of the eight teams receiving votes hail from the area. Plant and Sickles will face each other this week while Kathleen are the biggest movers in the poll jumping from #10 last week to number six. Braden River is sitting pretty at the number four spot, but will await the fallout stemming from a post-game brawl with North Port last week. The Pirates are off this week–then face Venice and Palmetto in consecutive weeks.  Bucholz, Oakleaf and Columbia are going to get major love from  their local media regardless of their resumes, so the likes of Palmetto, Lennard, Lakeland, Bartow and Plant City–if they’re concerned with this sort of thing at this point–will have to win and win big if they want to get ranked.

 

 

CLASS 6A
1. Mainland (6-0)
2. Armwood (5-0)
3. St. Augustine (6-0)
4. Naples (4-1)
5. Navarre (6-0)
6. Carol City (5-1)
7. Charlotte (6-0)
8. Miami Central (4-2)
9. Niceville (5-1)
10. Matanzas (6-0)
Others:
Palm Bay-Heritage
Clearwater
Pine Forest
Boyd Anderson
Escambia
Palmetto Ridge
Sebring
Tate

The reaction: This is an insanely tough class to navigate at the moment. Carol City has now knocked off Lakeland and Miami Central in the past month. Matanzas looks good on paper–BUT the boys from Palm Coast have Mainland left on their schedule in-district and quite frankly it’s a shame that Palm Bay-Heritage isn’t ranked to begin with. Looks like the fellas the Daytona Beach News-Journal should start a lobbying business on the side. St. Augustine’s 10-0 win over a putrid Melbourne team is the equivalent to Michigan State squeaking by Purdue at home–but don’t hold that against the Yellow Jackets even though #3 is a tad-bit too high. Based on history, the teams in 6A south from the Bay Area (*cranes neck at District 6A-9*) wouldn’t have to worry about those that sit to our southwest in Punta Gorda (Charlotte HS) and Naples come playoff time–but you’ve been warned this season. Oh, and Armwood is a full year ahead of schedule which is really scary. Keep your eyes peeled for the #1-ranked Bucs as they head to Cleveland’s St. Edwards this Saturday, who dispatched Cocoa last week 24-14.

 

 

CLASS 5A
1. American Heritage-Plantation (4-1)
2. Hallandale (4-1)
3. Bishop Moore (5-0)
4. North Marion (6-0)
5. Jesuit (6-0)
6. Wakulla (5-1)
7. Rickards (4-1)
8. Bay (5-0)
9. Live Oak-Suwannee (3-1)
10. Nature Coast Tech (5-0)
Others:
Coconut Creek
Palm Bay
Ponte Vedra
River Ridge

The reaction: Jesuit’s sitting pretty at the #5 spot and staring an undefeated season. They’ve also got a pretty clear shot to the state semis as Region-III is rather pedestrian. The Sharks of Nature Coast are simply bulldozing their way through the North Suncoast and are opposite Zephyrhills and River Ridge’s district the first two rounds of the playoffs which bears watching. AH-Plantation’s loss was to a top-ten nationally-ranked DeMatha Catholic and courtesy of a missed extra-point–so their resume is still in-tact as far as #1’s are concerned. Hallandale gave Aquinas all they wanted a couple of weeks back so having them at #2 is also well in-line. Also keep your eyes out for this Thursday’s BHSN Game of the Week when South Sumter (#3 in 4A) takes on the #3 in 5A at Bishop Moore.

 

 

CLASS 4A
1. Bolles (6-0)
2. Raines (5-0)
3. South Sumter (6-0)
4. Dunnellon (6-0)
5. Cocoa (4-2)
Others:
Booker T. Washington
Glades Central
Avon Park
Walton
University School

The reaction: There are no teams from the area that are in the conversation, but with Booker T. Washington going through some adversity to say the least–this could be Bolles’ title to lose. This class has the feel of 7A–which is to say it’s a one-horse race with a ton of parity vying for the place and show. Doesn’t mean the Bulldogs can’t be beaten and this class is boring–it’s actually just the opposite. This classification should provide quite a bit of drama and then give us a David-and-Goliath finish come Orlando in December.

 

 

CLASS 3A
1. Trinity Christian (5-0)
2. Lakeland Christian (6-0)
3. Clearwater Central Catholic (6-0)
4. Chaminade-Madonna (5-0)
5. Oxbridge Academy (4-1)
Others:
American Heritage-Delray
Westminster Christian
Tampa Catholic

The reaction: Probably the most-curious placement is the lack-of correct placement for Oxbridge Academy. The Thunderwolves soundly defeated American Heritage-Delray 24-7 last week and are likely to thump the visiting DeLand Bulldogs from Class 8A this Thursday down in West Palm Beach. Sitting at #2 is Lakeland Christian who is without their starting quarterback, yet finding ways to keep the momentum going. CCC at #3 is patiently waiting for a team to explode on from down south–or up north. This class is pound-for-pound one of the toughest and in the conversation with Class 6A in terms of THE toughest in the state even though–yeah–it’s Trinity Christian’s building and the rest are paying rent.

 

 

CLASS 2A
1. University Christian (4-1)
2. Northside Christian (5-0)
3. Dade Christian (4-0)
4. North Florida Christian (4-2)
5. Carrollwood Day (5-0)
Others:
Naples Community School
Admiral Farragut

The reaction: Northside’s put themselves front-and-center at the conversation for breaking Pinellas County’s state title winless streak, BUT–they’ll still have to face CDS this Friday along with play out their district schedule that has Indian Rocks Christian and Admiral Farragut foaming at the mouth to ruin those title aspirations. Much like the misplacement of St. Augustine, or the straight-up mistreatment of Heritage in the same class–there’s bit of a side-eye special headed towards those that aren’t taking a long and hard look at Cambridge Christian’s resume. Only makes our job easier as it’s an embossment of riches in terms of 2A title contenders hailing from this area.

 

 

CLASS 1A
1. Fort Meade (6-0)
2. Trenton (5-0)
3. Union County (5-0)
4. Pahokee (4-1)
5. Port St. Joe (3-1)
Others:
Blountstown
Newberry
Madison County

The reaction: It’s Fort Meade’s buil—ahhh wait just a minute. Granted, they’ve pretty much built the foundation for their run to Orlando–but a trip to Pahokee looms for the Miners and they’ll be opposite Trenton and Newberry’s district the first two rounds of the playoffs. They also have Union County and Madison County just above them in Region-III so the trip to Orlando from Fort Meade is full of obstacles. The Miners are looking pretty good though, so there’s reasons to have a little more faith than normal that this is potentially a dream season for them.