USA Today Florida Network high school football poll: Metro champions all unanimous No. 1's

It’s a new year, but the Week 1 USA Today Florida Network high school football poll looks very similar to the way it ended last fall.

The four defending Metro state champions – Christopher Columbus (4M), St. Thomas Aquinas (3M), Miami Central (2M) and Chaminade-Madonna (IM) – were unanimous selections as the No. 1 teams in their respective classes.

Hawthorne, the defending Rural class champion, and Mainland, the Class 3S state runner-up in 2022, also were unanimous selections as the top-ranked teams in their classes.

Venice (Class 4S), Cocoa (2S) and Trinity Catholic (1S) also begin the season at No. 1

Class 4M

1. Christopher Columbus (Miami) (10 first-place votes)

2. Seminole (Sanford)

3. Apopka

4. Mandarin (Jacksonville)

5. Western (Davie)

6. Palmetto (Miami)

7. Plant (Tampa)

8. Winter Park

9. Palm Beach Gardens,

10. Lake Mary

ARV: Monarch (Coconut Creek), Ocoee, East Lake, West Orange, Palm Beach Central

Class 3M

1. St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) (10 first-place votes)

2. Homestead

3. Jones (Orlando)

4. Edgewater (Orlando)

5. Jesuit (Tampa)

6. Tampa Bay Tech

7. Wekiva (Apopka)

8. Miramar

9. Armwood (Seffner)

10. Atlantic (Delray Beach)

ARV: Wharton (Tampa), Dillard (Fort Lauderdale), Blanche Ely (Pompano Beach), Fletcher (Neptune Beach), Oviedo

Class 2M

1. Miami Central (10 first-place votes)

2. Miami Norland

3. Booker T Washington (Miami)

4. American Heritage (Plantation)

5. Bolles (Jacksonville)

6. Cardinal Gibbons (Fort Lauderdale)

7. Tampa Catholic

8. Miami Northwestern

9. Calvary Christian (Clearwater)

10. Raines (Jacksonville),

ARV: Ed White (Jacksonville), Lakewood (St. Peterburg), Monsignor Pace (Miami), Berkeley Prep (Tampa), Miami Edison

Class 1M

1. Chaminade-Madonna (Hollywood) (10 first-place votes)

2. Clearwater Central Catholic

3. Trinity Christian (Jacksonville)

4. Carrollwood Day (Tampa)

5. Cardinal Newman (West Palm Beach)

ARV: Benjamin (Palm Beach Gardens), University Christian (Jacksonville), Avant Garde (Hollywood), True North Classical (Miami), Orlando Christian Prep

Class 4S

1. Venice (8 first-place votes)

2. Lakeland (2 first-place votes)

3. Vero Beach

4. Bartram Trail (St. Johns)

5. Osceola (Kissimmee)

6. Buchholz (Gainesville)

7. Creekside (St. Johns)

8. Treasure Coast (Port St. Lucie)

9. DeLand

10. Niceville

ARV: Lake Minneola, Manatee (Bradenton), Martin County (Stuart), Oakleaf (Orange Park), Ponte Vedra

Class 3S

1. Mainland (Daytona Beach) (10 first-place votes)

2. St. Augustine

3. Dunbar (Fort Myers)

4. Naples

5. Lake Wales

6. Pine Forest (Pensacola)

7. Zephyrhills

8. Vanguard (Ocala)

9. Choctawhatchee (Fort Walton Beach)

10. Escambia (Pensacola)

ARV: Columbia (Lake City), Sebring, Rockledge, Eau Gallie (Melbourne), North Fort Myers

Class 2S

1. Cocoa (9 first-place votes)

2. Florida High (Tallahassee) (1 first-place vote)

3. Bishop Verot (Fort Myers)

4. Bradford (Starke)

5. South Sumter (Bushnell)

6. Pensacola Catholic

7.  Baker County (Glen St. Mary)

8. Wakulla (Crawfordville)

9. Suwannee (Live Oak)

10. Baldwin

ARV: North Marion (Citra), Walton (DeFuniak Springs), Eastside (Gainesville), Clewiston, Palm Bay

Class 1S

1. Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (9 first-place votes)

2. First Baptist Academy (Naples) (1 first-place votes)

3. North Florida Christian (Tallahassee)

4. Cardinal Mooney (Sarasota)

5. Lakeland Christian

ARV: Melbourne Central Catholic, St. John Paul II (Tallahassee), Munroe (Quincy), Moore Haven, Evangelical Christian (Fort Myers)

Class 1R

1. Hawthorne (10 first-place votes)

2. Pahokee

3. Blountstown

4. Northview (Bratt)

5. Union County (Lake Butler)

ARV: Madison County, Chiefland, Sneads, Wildwood, Newberry

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Week 1 USA Today Florida Network high school football poll