Prep football: Manatee is the people's champion

photo by Paul Videla
Cord Sandberg and the Manatee Hurricanes topped the Second Annual RivalsHigh fans preseason top 10

Less than nine months after capturing their first state title in 20 years, the Manatee Hurricanes have captured the opinion of the country's prep football fans.
Manatee was ranked No. 1 in the Second Annual RivalsHigh fans preseason top 10, which was released Sunday, and it wasn't even close.
The Canes  received 81 first-place to finish with 2,018 points, easily beating out No. 2 Skyline High out of Dallas, Tex.(1,608 points).
Louisville's Trinity, named the nation's top team last year by Rivals, garnered the second-most first-place votes with 51 and finished fourth overall.
Nearly 250 usable ballots were cast, according to the website, and Manatee finished either first, second or third in 191 of them.
This isn't the first time Manatee has received recent national acclaim - MaxPreps ranked the Hurricanes No.1 in its preseason poll in June and USA Today slotted them at No. 3 last week.
Rivals will unveil its preseason top 10 beginning this week.