DeLand, after opening the season with a 35-34 shootout victory at Lake Wales on Friday, garnered all of the first-place votes in the Sentinel’s Week 1 Super 16 Coaches Poll. DeLand, which started out as the preseason No. 1, gained six more first-place votes to make it a unanimous choice of the 15 coaches on the panel this week.
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Teams in the Top 5 changed positions from the preseason poll, with Edgewater moving past Jones into second place, The First Academy moving up to No. 4 and idle Lake Mary dropping a notch to No. 5.
The entire bottom half of the Top 10 changed with West Orange moving up to No. 6, followed by Bishop Moore, Seminole, Lake Nona and Evans.
Four teams made their season debut in the Super 16 after big opening-week victories. Independent Windermere made the biggest move, jumping from the list of others receiving votes category to No. 12 after the Wolverines defeated Winter Park, 29-26, their 21st victory in a row. East Ridge, St. Cloud and Lake Howell also jumped into the rankings.
Winter Park, Osceola, South Lake and Dr. Phillips dropped out after losses.
There are some big games on tap this week. No. 1 DeLand will play host to the No. 4 team in the MaxPreps rankings when St. Frances Academy of Baltimore makes the trip to Spec Martin Stadium to play the Bulldogs. No. 2 Edgewater will play host to No. 4 TFA in a rematch of a dramatic 2024 game that saw TFA topple the Eagles.
Also, upstart Lake Howell, fresh into the rankings for the first time in several seasons at No. 16, will play host to No. 8 Seminole. In another Seminole County showdown, No. 5 Lake Mary will visit No. 11 Oviedo. In a battle for supremacy along the Western Beltway, Horizon will drive 11 miles up the 429 to face No. 6 West Orange. Horizon scored 71 points vs. Lake Buena Vista last week.
Super 16 Coaches Poll
Teams are listed with (record), number of votes, (first-place votes), results from last week, next game.
Voting: First-place vote = 1 point, second = 2 points, etc. There were 17 coaches voting this week (listed below). A coach cannot vote for his own team.
1. DeLand (1-0), 15 (15): def. Lake Wales 35-34; Next: Friday, vs. St. Frances Academy (Md.) (0-0).
2. Edgewater (1-0) 42: defeated Ocoee 34-6; Next: Friday, vs. No. 4 TFA (1-0).
3. Jones (0-1) 53: lost to Santa Margarita (Calif.) 27-0; Next: Sept. 5, at 10 Evans (0-1).
4. The First Academy (1-0) 61: def. No. 16 Dr. Phillips 56-7; Next: Friday, at No. 2 Edgewater (1-0).
5. Lake Mary (0-0) 63: Rams were idle to start the season; Next: Friday, vs. No. 11 Oviedo (0-1).
6. West Orange (1-0) 85: def. Archbishop Hoban (Ohio) 28-24; Next: Friday, vs. Horizon (1-0).
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7. Bishop Moore (0-1) 102: lost to Hawthorne 28-25; Next: Thursday, at Palos Verdes (Calif.) (1-0).
8. Seminole (1-0) 105: def. Mountain Vista (Colo.) 26-17; Next: Friday, at No. 16 Lake Howell (1-0).
9. Lake Nona (1-0) 110: def. No. 5 Evans 31-27; Next: Friday, at East River (0-1).
10. Evans (0-1) 121: lost to No. 13 Lake Nona 31-27; Next: Friday, vs. Boone (1-0).
11. Oviedo (0-1) 123: lost to Titusville 24-22; Next: Friday. vs. No. 5 Lake Mary (0-0).
12. Windermere (1-0) 166; def. Winter Park 29-26; Next: Friday, at Innovation (1-0).
13. East Ridge (1-0) 176: def. No. 12 South Lake 24-7; Next: Friday, vs. Leesburg (0-1).
14. Lake Brantley (1-0) 178: def. Hernando 44-7; Next: Friday, vs. Lyman (1-0).
15. St. Cloud (1-0) 182: def. No. 8 Osceola 18-15; Next: Friday, at Marietta (Ga.) (0-1).
16. Lake Howell (1-0) 186: def. Winter Springs 57-16; Next: Friday, vs. No. 8 Seminole (1-0).
Others receiving votes (in order of votes received): Winter Park, South Lake, Osceola, Boone, Dr. Phillips, Horizon, Hagerty, Innovation.
Coaching panel: Orange County — Patrick Browning (Edgewater), Travis Gabriel (Olympia), Tim Shifflet (Winter Park), Dennis Thomas (Horizon), Geno Thompson (West Orange), Elijah Williams (Jones). Seminole County — Karl Calhoun (Seminole), Tim Dykus (Winter Springs), Dazzie Morris (Lake Howell), Greg Odierno (Oviedo), Scott Perry (Lake Mary). Lake County — Donnie Burchfield (East Ridge), Brad Lord (South Lake). Osceola County — Eric Pinellas (Osceola), Mike Short (St. Cloud).
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Chris Hays can be found on X.com @OS_ChrisHays.