The Florida High School Athletic Association released its second rankings of the 2022 season on Wednesday afternoon.
Chaminade-Madonna, the No. 1 team in Class 1M on the USA Today Florida Network Top 100, remains the No. 1 overall team in the state regardless of classification.
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Here are five observations from the second state rankings:
Bradford stands out
Undefeated Bradford’s season has been impressive for many reasons, most notably the fact that the Tornadoes have outscored opponents by a combined score of 164-7 with five shutouts in six games. Bradford, ranked No. 8 overall and No. 1 Class 2S, also has the distinction of being the lone Suburban program in the top 10. For what it’s worth, eight of the teams ranked between 11 and 20 are Suburban schools.
Cardinal Newman moving up
The Crusaders (6-0) beat previously undefeated John Carroll Catholic 40-7 on Monday and vaulted all the way to No. 10 overall in the state. Cardinal Newman plays in a deep classification (four of the top 10 teams in the state are in Class 1M) and has a very difficult roadblock in Region 3-1M in Chaminade, but the ranking is a validation of the job coach Jack Daniels has done in his first 18 months in West Palm Beach.
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Class 4S is as deep as expected
As soon as the new football classes were released, it looked like teams in Class 4S would have the toughest road to the state championship. The rankings after six weeks agree. Five of the top 18 teams overall — Vero Beach (No. 11), Buchholz (12), Bartram Trail (13), Niceville (14) and Lakeland (18) — are in Class 4S. That doesn’t even include Venice, the 2021 Class 8A state champion, which is No. 6 in the state. Undefeated Land O’Lakes is No. 7 and Lake Minneola (2020 Class 5A state finalist) is No. 9.
Williston is the No. 1 rural program
Williston has had an impressive start to the season with a 5-0 record, three consecutive shutouts and scoring at least 42 points in every game. The Red Devils are the top rural team in the rankings and No. 25 overall in the state — ahead of traditional powers such as Tampa Bay Tech (2021 Class 7A state runner-up), Miami Northwestern, Venice (2021 Class 8A state champion) and others. Chiefland (No. 30) and Hawthorne (No. 37) are the only rural programs in the top 40.
Just for fun
Let’s play the what-if game for just a second. If the playoffs started today and the top-seeded team won every matchup, this is what the Final Four would look like in each classification.
Class 4M
Newsome at Columbus
Santaluces at Winter Park
Class 3M
Largo at St. Thomas Aquinas
Homestead at Edgewater
Class 2M
Bishop Kenny at Plantation-American Heritage
Clearwater-Calvary Christian at Miami Central
Class 1M
Miami-Westminster Christian at Chaminade-Madonna
Northside Christian at Trinity Christian
Class 4S
Venice at Vero Beach
Lakeland at Buchholz
Class 3S
Mainland at Dunbar
Pine Forest at Lake Wales
Class 2S
Bishop Verot at Bradford
South Sumter at Florida High
Class 1S
Ocala-Trinity Catholic at Naples-First Baptist Academy
John Carroll Catholic at North Florida Christian
Class 1R
Sneads at Williston
Northview at Union County