We’re now at the point in the season where there’s enough data to tighten up both polls and power rankings, as we come down to the final three weeks of the season.

Our top teams have been playing national games, and for the most part, I do not weight them too much in my thinking, since few of our high schools get to play top national programs.

Most schools were off last week due to the spring break, so there isn’t going to be much movement.

Last week’s Poll:

FLN Boys 1A Top 15 Poll – Week Ending 3/12/23

1) Lake Highland Prep (6-0)

2) Jesuit of Tampa (7-1)

3) Saint Andrew’s (8-1)

4t) Bolles (8-0)

4t) Benjamin (6-2)

4t) St Edward’s (6-3)

7) Cardinal Mooney (6-3)

8) SJP II (6-2)

9) Community School of Naples (6-1)

10) Holy Trinity Episcopal (10-0)

11) Oxbridge (5-4)

12) Oak Hall (9-1)

13) Montverde (5-3)

14) Pine Crest (3-4)

15t) Bishop Verot (7-1)/Belen Jesuit (8-2)//NSU University (6-2)

Also Considered:

Canterbury (4-4), ESJ (6-2), King’s Academy (6-4)

Unlike the two Girls’ Polls, there was definitely movement on the Boys’ side, as there were big games played last week.

First off was the big win by Benjamin over Lake Highland, as the Highlanders were pretty much dominated in the second half by a nearly flawless Benjamin performance. Might have been an astrological sign for LHP after their game with Cardinal Mooney was cancelled as the CM bus broke down on the trip . . . LHP’s schedule this week is easy but they face two tough games after that.

Jesuit fared well on their road trip this past week, with a comfortable win over Belen and a solid win over Columbus on back-to-back days. Their only loss was to Lake Mary by a goal, and they have Benjamin coming to Tampa, as well as traveling to CM this week, so we’ll look at the total resume for this week’s polls and give them their due. Should they go 2-0 this week, there will be little to argue with this week’s slotting.

St. Andrew’s gave Boys’ Latin a heck of a 35 minutes last week, and that version of the Scots will be very difficult for any Florida team to handle, but they need to avoid complacency, as we saw the previous week. They only have three more games scheduled, with a trip to Vero Beach this week.

Bolles is so difficult to gauge, since I don’t have a feeling for the teams they are playing this year. Although I discount out-of-state a lot, the upcoming game with Ohio power Dublin Jerome is one I will watch with interest. I can’t get excited over wins over Louisiana high schools. Their best wins so far are by 3 over CM the first game and Nease by 5. The Pope win doesn’t look as good now. The Winter Park game will tell a lot.

Benjamin has a terrific overall resume and added to it this past week with big wins over SJP and LHP; they also travel to Plant and Jesuit for a ‘big boy pants’ back-to-back.

St. Edward’s was off last week, and they should hold serve this week.

Cardinal Mooney’s week started rough with the bus and Lake Mary was able to pull away late. This is their big week to shine, with both Community School and Jesuit at home on the schedule.

SJP split the week, with a loss to Benjamin followed by a nice win over King’s Academy. A trip to Gulf Coast on Saturday is the only game this week.

Community School handled Canterbury before losing to Episcopal (VA). Besides their road trip to CM, they host King’s this week. Region 3 playoffs look like they might end up being who has the #1 seed, as the #2-#3 semifinal will be a bear, while #1-#4 does not look like it right now. The road to that #1 seed likely gets settled this week.

Holy Trinity was off last week and has a big rivalry matchup with Viera this week. Can’t look past that one with Bolles coming next week.

Oxbridge fell twice and their offense continues to struggle, only scoring 2 goals versus Jupiter and 6 versus Palo Verde (NV). It doesn’t get any easier as they face Bullis (MD) after getting this week off.

Oak Hall was off this weekend and will likely run the table with a schedule that isn’t going to allow any movement up here. Montverde was dominated by St Thomas yesterday, and really doesn’t have a good win yet, so I have to drop them down.

Pine Crest is finally getting back to a full squad and had two easy wins last week; they host both Belen and Columbus this week and have a chance to fully right the ship before the playoff season. They will need to do so, because the FHSAA rankings are not kind to them right now.

Bishop Verot continues to pile on wins, mostly against lesser teams, but they travel to Belen this week for a test. Next year it will be time to step up the schedule.

Belen had a tough loss to Jesuit Friday and has only 3 Florida teams left on the schedule before traveling to NY for a special event. None of those 3 Florida games are easy ones either. A district playoff loss to NSU University could see them out of the bracket entirely. On the other hand, NSU took a problematic loss to Cypress Bay, an Independent this year, and has Gulliver on Tuesday in a game that could possibly end up deciding who goes to the bracket.

None of either Canterbury, ESJ or King’s Academy did anything to help their cause this week, as all 3 split their games. They need a big win to get back into consideration.

FLN Boys 1A Top 15 Poll – Week Ending 3/19/23

1t) Jesuit of Tampa (9-1)

1t) Saint Andrew’s (8-2)

3) Benjamin (8-2)

4) Bolles (11-0)

5t) Lake Highland Prep (6-1)

5t) St Edward’s (6-3)

7) Community School of Naples (7-2)

8) Cardinal Mooney (6-4)

9) Holy Trinity Episcopal (10-0)

10) SJP II (7-3)

11) Pine Crest (5-4)

12) Oak Hall (9-1)

13) Bishop Verot (9-1)

14) Oxbridge (5-6)

15) Montverde (5-4)

Also Considered:

Belen Jesuit (8-3), NSU University (7-4)