BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Bradford High School was number one in the inaugural Florida High School Athletic Association Region 2-2A football power rankings, which were released Sept. 23, but dropped one spot in the latest rankings, which were released Sept. 30.
The inaugural rankings had Bradford (5-1) ahead of The Villages, but The Villages (6-0) now occupies the top spot.
Rankings, which take record and strength of schedule into account, will be updated weekly and be used to determine playoff seeding and at-large qualifiers.
The four district champions in each of the four regions in 2A automatically qualify for the playoffs. Each region will also have four at-larger qualifiers.
In Region 2, the top eight, besides The Villages and Bradford, consists of Santa Fe (4-1), Cocoa (2-3), Clearwater Calvary Christian (3-3), Titusville Astronaut (4-2), Tampa Catholic (1-5) and Newberry (2-3).
Bradford is ranked fifth in Class 2A regardless of region behind Jacksonville Bolles (5-1), Sarasota Cardinal Mooney (4-1), St. Petersburg Lakewood (6-0) and The Villages.
Two of the Tornadoes’ victories have come against two current top-10 teams: Mandarin, which is fifth in Class 6A and South Sumter, which is ninth in Class 3A. Bradford also has a win over Eastside, which is 11th in Class 3A.
Complete rankings can be viewed at www.fhsaa.com.
