North Central Florida is home to some really great football every season and last year finally produced a state champion, with Trenton winning the Class 1A state championship. So who are we thinking could be in the Top 15 for North Central Florida. Here is our first stab at those rankings before the official preseason Top 15 comes out later this summer.
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1. Columbia (10-2) – Despite losing in the second round of the playoffs this past season, Columbia has a knack for developing new talent each year. The biggest thing the Tigers will have to worry about is Ed White over in Jacksonville trying to steal their thunder once again in district play.
2. Trinity Catholic (8-4) – The Celtics have a nice variety of talent coming up and that should help them compete easily and allow them to once again again the playoffs this coming season. However, don’t put all the hopes of making a run to the state title game there this season.
3. Gainesville (9-3) – The Hurricanes have been one of the best teams in the region for the last five plus seasons. Talent keeps developing or coming in from other area schools that is allowing this program to continue its winning ways. As such, we don’t expect too much to change this season.
4. South Sumter () – The Raiders were one of the strongest teams last season in the region and with the talent that keeps developing we should not expect much fall off of this program going into the season.
5. Trenton (12-1) – Will the Tigers go for three state final appearances in a row and go back-to-back on state championships this season? It is very likely. This team might not be full of Division I talent, but the fact remains you can succeed if you have all the components in place. That includes coaches, players and the fans that put in the support.
6. Springstead (12-1) – After making the deepest playoff run in school history, Springstead is looking for more this season, but will have a few holes to fill in. Overall expect a challenge alone just to get out of district play once again this season.
7. North Marion (9-3) – After a season of winning with two different head coaches, North Marion enters the season with a new head coach. Stephen Field who came up from Miami Northwestern is taking over a program that hasn’t missed the playoffs in over a decade, so the challenge is there, but with the talent that has come through the doors, we don’t expect much drop off here.
8. Union County (10-2) – This group of Tigers are looking for a way to crack the state finals and haven’t done so yet. However, this is another Class 1A program that continues to win, despite not having much in Division I talent.
9. Fort White (7-2) – The Indians won their first district title last season, but some of the talent is going to be gone due to graduation. With holes to fill and Madison County very likely to make a a comeback after missing the playoffs last season, Fort White will have a challenge setting up this season.
10. Hamilton County (5-6) – Hamilton County shocked a lot of fans in Class 1A when they won their district and then went on to make the Regional Finals. A lot is expected of them again and having a state championship winning coach at the helm could help take this team to further heights that haven’t been seen in many years.
11. Suwannee (7-3) – Another team that had a big turaround last year and made the playoffs. Suwannee, is getting back to its winning ways and talent is starting to develop here at this Class 5A program.
12. Lafayette (7-3) – Lafayette is another team that keeps on finding ways to win, but a lot of the talent will be gone this season meaning hole will have to be filled. With Hamilton County rising back, the district will be a challenge to win. Ovearll though, we think the Hornets will still be competitive at least.
13. Citrus (9-2) – Citrus shocked a lot of folks this past season winning nine games and making the playoffs, but the challenge now turns towards keeping things together under a new head coach. We are interested to see how this goes.
14. Dixie County (10-1) – The Bears did well last season until getting the rematch with Trenton in the state semifinals. Talent like Duke Dawson is gone so holes will have to be filled in. Can the Bears try to pull off another deep run in 2014?
15. Bell (8-3) – Bell saw a tremendous turn around under first year head coach Joey Whittington, allowing the Bulldogs to reach the playoffs for the first time in school history. Overall, we think things are going to continue to get better with the rise of Gilchrist County football.
