Lakeland Remains #5 in 7A, Winter Haven Still #4 in 6A
Tue. October 02, 2012 at 2:00 a.m. | By Solange Reyner
By SOLANGE REYNER
THE LEDGER
LAKELAND | Lakeland had a tough time beating Bartow Friday night in a non-district match-up, eventually winning 17-10 in overtime, but the close game didn't cost the Dreadnaughts their No. 5 spot in Class 7A in the Associated Press state football poll.
Winter Haven, which had a bye this week, stayed at No. 4 in Class 6A in the poll, a list released every Monday evening and voted on by state media. The Blue Devils will face Lake Gibson in a district match-up this Friday, likely their second-biggest test of the season. On Sept. 20, Winter Haven held off Kathleen, 27-21, to move up to 4-0 on the season.
Lake Gibson is undefeated and beat Tenoroc 47-0 last Friday.
Lakeland moved to 5-0 on the season after beating Bartow, but had trouble getting through that game Friday. After going up 10-3 on a touchdown run by Isaiah Walker with 8:51 left in the game, Bartow's Vontarius West ran the kickoff return 74 yards back to tie it. And that's where things stood until Jacquan Foster caught a game-winning touchdown pass from Walker in overtime.
"Bartow was tough, and their kids played their A-game," Lakeland coach Bill Castle said Monday. "We seem to always get everyone's A-game. Bartow will be tough to beat if they play everyone like they played us."
Lake Wales didn't make the Top 10 in Class 5A but picked up votes in the poll after its 17-0 win over George Jenkins last week. Fort Meade, which lost 24-14 to Ridge Community on Friday, received votes last week but was left off this week.
In Rivals' state poll, Lakeland is No. 8 overall, and Winter Haven No. 22. That poll is released on Mondays, too, and voted on by state media.
[Solange Reyner may be reached at solange.reyner@theledger.com or 863-802-7526.]
The Associated Press Top 10 Florida high school football poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records, rating points and previous rankings:
Class 8A | |||
Record | Pts | Prv | |
1. Dr. Phillips (14) | 5-0 | 155 | 1 |
2. Plant (1) | 3-1 | 135 | 2 |
3. Fletcher (1) | 5-0 | 131 | 3 |
4. Miami Killian | 4-0 | 105 | 5 |
5. Lake Brantley | 4-1 | 74 | 6 |
6. Timber Creek | 4-0 | 63 | 10 |
7. Christopher Columbus Catholic | 3-2 | 58 | 4 |
8. Palm Beach Gardens | 4-1 | 53 | 8 |
T9. Cypress Bay | 4-1 | 30 | |
T9. Lake Mary | 5-0 | 30 |
Others receiving votes: South Plantation 18, Park Vista Community 11, Vero Beach 9, Miramar 4, Hialeah 3, Apopka 1.
Class 7A | |||
Record | Pts | Prv | |
1. Manatee (16) | 4-0 | 160 | 1 |
2. Dwyer | 5-0 | 138 | 2 |
3. First Coast | 5-0 | 122 | 3 |
4. St. Thomas Aquinas | 3-1 | 106 | 4 |
5. Lakeland | 5-0 | 84 | 5 |
6. Lincoln | 4-0 | 81 | 6 |
7. Fort Pierce Central | 4-0 | 75 | 7 |
8. Fleming Island | 5-0 | 57 | 8 |
9. Kissimmee Osceola | 5-0 | 34 | 9 |
10. Countryside | 4-1 | 9 | 10 |
Others receiving votes: Durant 8, Oviedo 3, Oakland Park Northeast 1, Venice 1, Evans 1.
Class 6A | |||
Record | Pts | Prv | |
1. Gainesville (14) | 5-0 | 156 | 1 |
2. Armwood | 4-1 | 132 | 2 |
3. Winter Haven | 4-0 | 121 | 3 |
4. St. Augustine | 5-0 | 100 | 4 |
5. Miami Central (2) | 2-2 | 90 | 5 |
6. Naples | 5-0 | 79 | 7 |
7. Columbia | 4-1 | 74 | 6 |
8. Largo | 5-0 | 48 | 9 |
9. Miami Northwestern | 4-1 | 42 | 8 |
10. Miami Carol City | 4-1 | 16 | 10 |
Others receiving votes: New Smyrna Beach 9, Navarre 5, South Fort Myers 4, Fort Myers 2, Lake Gibson 1, Pace 1.
Class 5A | |||
Record | Pts | Prv | |
1. Palmetto (12) | 5-0 | 152 | 1 |
2. Pasco (1) | 4-0 | 133 | 2 |
3. Wakulla (1) | 5-0 | 125 | 3 |
4. Miami Norland | 4-1 | 107 | 4 |
5. Robinson | 5-0 | 103 | 5 |
6. Plantation American Heritage (1) | 3-1 | 79 | 6 |
7. Godby (1) | 4-0 | 73 | 7 |
8. West Florida | 5-0 | 47 | 8 |
9. Lakewood | 4-0 | 22 | |
10. Miami Jackson | 4-1 | 18 |
Others receiving votes: Merritt Island 8, Lake Wales 8, DeSoto County 2, Immokalee 2, Crystal River 1.
Class 4A | |||
Record | Pts | Prv | |
1. Miami Washington (11) | 4-1 | 155 | 2 |
2. South Sumter (5) | 5-0 | 147 | 1 |
3. Bolles School | 4-1 | 127 | 3 |
4. Raines | 4-0 | 103 | 4 |
5. Cocoa | 2-2 | 84 | 5 |
Others receiving votes: Yulee 18, Jones 6.
Class 3A | |||
Record | Pts | Prv | |
1. Delray American Heritage (12) | 5-0 | 155 | 1 |
2. University School (4) | 4-0 | 138 | 3 |
3. Madison County | 5-0 | 137 | 2 |
4. Berkeley Prep | 5-0 | 99 | 4 |
5. Cardinal Newman | 5-0 | 60 | 5 |
Others receiving votes: Orlando The First Academy 15, Pensacola Catholic 12, Trinity Christian-Jacksonville 12, Clearwater Central Catholic 12.
Class 2A | |||
Record | Pts | Prv | |
1. North Florida Christian (11) | 3-1 | 151 | 2 |
2. Admiral Farragut (2) | 5-0 | 132 | 3 |
3. Dade Christian | 5-0 | 119 | 4 |
4. Glades Day (2) | 4-1 | 103 | 1 |
5. Warner Christian (1) | 4-1 | 102 | 5 |
Others receiving votes: Carrollwood Day 12, University Christian 8, First Baptist 7, Lake Mary Prep 6.
Class 1A | |||
Record | Pts | Prv | |
1. Trenton (13) | 4-0 | 156 | 1 |
2. Union County (2) | 5-0 | 146 | 2 |
3. Dixie County | 4-1 | 120 | 5 |
4. Chiefland | 4-1 | 74 | |
T5. Holmes County | 4-1 | 61 | 3 |
T5. Northview | 4-1 | 61 |
Others receiving votes: Jefferson County (1) 16, Port St. Joe 6.
