FHSAA releases third football rankings: Eastside, P.K. Yonge among local teams on the rise

For the second week in a row, the Gainesville-area high school football schedule was impacted .

A week after Hurricane Helene shuffled the schedule, Buchholz and Gainesville High were forced to finish their rivalry game on Monday night after field conditions at Citizens Field called off the game for Friday.

Fortunately, the Bobcats and Hurricanes managed to finish their game before the FHSAA released its latest rankings.

Here’s which teams rose and fell in the latest rankings:

Eastside, PK Yonge move up

The Rams' move was expected after Eastside scored the biggest upset of Week 7 with a dramatic, 14-12 win over Dunnellon.

The win moves Eastside up from the outside looking in (the nine spot) to the No. 6 seed in Class 3A-Region 2. Dunnellon is still ahead of the Rams, but by just one spot.

Eastside is now above district mates South Sumter and North Marion. The Rams are scheduled to play the South Sumter Raiders this Friday in a game that’ll likely decide the district title. However, it could be moved because of Hurricane Milton.

If the playoffs began today, Eastside would play at No. 3 seed Mount Dora.

P.K. Yonge’s accension is a little more surprising. Sure, the Blue Wave just keep winning, but it’s come over a lackluster schedule.

They now sit at No. 4 in Class 1A-Region 1. A win on October 25 over Trinity Catholic always guaranteed a playoff bid with a district title.

The Blue Wave have some extra breathing room, making it likely that they’ll nab a playoff bid even with a loss.

If the postseason begins today, PKY would host University Christian out of Jacksonville.

Gainesville High, Columbia shoot down

The playoff hopes of the Hurricanes took a big hit this week. The loss to Buchholz moved the ‘Canes from No. 9 to 11 in 4A-Region 2.

They are now over 50 spots behind eighth-seeded New Smyrna Beach.

A playoff bid will only occur if the ‘Canes defeat Vanguard and/or Leesburg in district play. Both games are on the road, and even that might not be enough.

Columbia didn’t move down in the seeding in 4A-Region 1, remaining at No. 9, but the Tigers dug themselves a bigger hole.

Columbia’s 42-17 loss to Bolles moved it down to 245 statewide, 45 spots behind 8 ^th seeded Arnold.

The bare minimum is to win the remainder of their games, but that may not be enough. The Tigers need to pray that a squad above them falters over the last three weeks.

Noah Ram covers Gainesville-area high school sports and University of Florida athletics for The Gainesville Sun and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him at Nram@gannett.com and follow him @Noah_ram1 on X/Twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: FHSAA releases third football rankings: Eastside, P.K. Yonge among local teams on the rise