Week 7 High School Football: Venice scores big win against undefeated Manatee
Results and analysis from Weeks 6 of Sarasota-Manatee area high school football games from Friday, Oct. 6.
Venice 56, Manatee 24
VENICE — The Venice High football team made a huge statement Friday night.
Venice shredded a Manatee High defense for 552 yards, seven offensive touchdowns and one special teams’ score in a 56-24 decision over the previously unbeaten Hurricanes in front of a standing-room-only crowd at Powell-Davis Stadium.
Running back Jamarice “Gator” Wilder had two touchdowns on the ground, quarterback Jadyn Glasser threw four touchdown passes, and Zycarl Lewis had a scoring reception and punt return for Venice, which has won four straight since opening the season with two losses.
“From the beginning our kids never hit the panic button,” Venice coach John Peacock said. “They came to practice ready to work and they’re getting better each week.”
Manatee, which leads the series with Venice 13-10 since 2004, lost its first game of the season as it heads into its off week.
“We need it,” Hurricanes coach Jacquez Green said of the week off. “We’re tired. We played seven games in a row. We need it. We need a chance to recover and get more guys healthy.”
Manatee played without running back Cory Sanders and lost linebackers Max Freeman on the first play of the game and Damontez McDowell later in the game.
“It was tough because Tez and Max are the ones who line us up out there,” Green said.
Friday, Venice is at home against Sarasota High in its final Class 4 Suburban-District 14 contest.
MANATEE TAKEAWAYS
1. Just when it looked as if Venice would get off to a poor start, it was the Hurricanes who had difficulty from the start. Venice scored on its first possession and never looked back. In the game, Manatee got a 92-yard kickoff return from Ty’ron Jackson, a 7-yard run from Trayvon Pinder and a 2-yard pass from Andrew Heidel, who went 15-for-28 for 150 yards. “We played bad,” Green said. “We just didn’t play good. We didn’t tackle well. We didn’t line up well. Seems like a lot of guys had jitters early on. We were making mistakes we hadn’t made all year.”
2. The Hurricanes had difficulty handling Venice’s up-tempo offense. “It’s hard to replicate it. You really can’t replicate it,” Green said. “We’ve got to get lined up better. The good thing is we’ve got film on them now. We can see where we made mistakes. Watch the film and clean it up.”
3. The Hurricanes lost composure in the fourth quarter. Tyreek’e Robinson and Najeh Sexill were ejected on different plays. “They were doing a lot of stuff after the whistle,” Green said of Venice. “And they weren’t calling it. If you keep letting it go on, first quarter, second quarter, third quarter ... We were down, so temper started flaring. They’ve got to keep their cool better, but football players are wired a certain way. It’s hard to tell a football player to turn his stuff off all of a sudden. We’ve got to keep our cool better. The referees need to do a better job of keeping the game under control early."
VENICE TAKEAWAYS
1. Since the second half of last week’s game against Riverview High, Venice has been a tackling machine. Venice permitted 101 rushing yards and 150 passing while recording six sacks, including two each by Ahsarri Charles and David Galloway. Ryan Daly also had a sack. “We’re getting better each week, which is what you want to do during the season. Be your best at the end of the season,” Peacock said.
2. In a balanced offensive attack, Venice rushed for 292 yards and passed for 260. Glasser went 15-for-23 with scoring passes to Ryan Matulevich for 53 yards to open the scoring, Jayce Barksdale for 9 yards, Griffin Gisotti for 10 yards and Lewis for 43 yards. Wilder needed only seven carries to gain 162 yards and crossed the goal line on runs of 60 and 34. Quarterback Ryan Downes displayed his speed with a 50-yard TD burst. “Our offense is starting to click a little bit now,” Peacock said. “It seems to be coming together.”
3. When Manatee was assessed two personal fouls and Venice kicked off from the Hurricanes’ 35-yard line, kicker Joaiah Arcadipane recovered the onside kick. Peacock then gathered his team near the sidelines and told them to keep their heads. “I threatened their life,” Peacock said. “That can kill your season if something stupid happens and you get some kids kicked out of the game and are out for six weeks. That can ruin a season and a kid’s whole senior year. It’s a good learning lesson for that tonight and something we can address as a team. We always talk about that in practice, but it’s good to have a situation where you can show them.”
− Dennis Maffezzoli
North Port 37, Bayshore 14
NORTH PORT — Peter Kalphat scored three touchdowns as the host North Port Bobcats won their fourth-straight game, 37-14 over the visiting Bayshore Bruins on Friday night.
The sophomore running back scored on runs of 5, 5 and 36 yards, as the Bobcats (4-1) assumed a 28-0 lead at halftime. Also in the first half, quarterback Giovanni Dibene tallied on a 1-yard run, and Tommy Bowdre added a 53-yard punt return for a touchdown.
Up 28-0 at half, North Port tacked on just nine more points in the second half. Two came on a safety when the Bruins (3-3) snapped the ball through their own end zone, and Kalphat, who finished with 83 yards on 8 carries, closed out North Port’s scoring with his 36-yard TD scamper with four minutes left in the game.
The Bruins, who were defeated 50-6 last week by Booker, averted the shutout when wide receiver Josh Blanc caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Caleb Rhodes with two minutes to go in the third quarter. Bayshore scored again in the fourth period when Wilson Nonnombre scooped up a North Port fumble and returned it 52 yards for the touchdown midway through the fourth.
NORTH PORT TAKEAWAYS
1. The Bobcats’ four victories equal the highest win total in program history, but head coach Garon Belser knows his team is a long way from where he wants it to be. North Port was flagged for 15-yard facemask and roughing the kicker penalties on low snaps to the Bruin punter, twice giving Bayshore a fresh set of downs. Just before halftime, up 28-0 and on the verge of making it a running clock to start the second half, the Bobcats were stuffed inside the Bayshore 5 and came away with no points. Later, North Port’s offensive line couldn’t get a sufficient push on fourth-and-1 near midfield, giving the ball back to the Bruins. And after scoring 28 points in the first half, North Port tallied just nine in the second. “Nine points, one touchdown, not very happy about that,” Belser said afterward. “This is very frustrating, because our defense played well, we really felt we’d win the special-teams game, which we did. So I’m very happy about that. We’re just not complete yet. We got to learn how to finish games. Happy with the result, but there’s still a lot to fix.”
2. Quarterback Giovanni Dibene scored North Port’s first touchdown on a 1-yard run, but eventually, the left-handed junior gave way to senior Niklas Pinto. Neither quarterback was particularly effective. Dibene went 1-of-3 for 12 yards, while Pinto completed a 5-yard pass. “I have confidence in both of them,” Belser said. “There are no easy answers to it. We have to find out what works. Find the guy (the offense) is comfortable with. Again, obviously, we’re working our way through it.” For the Bobcats, defensive back Macai Barnard had two interceptions, as Bayshore was held to fewer than 100 yards total offense.
BAYSHORE TAKEAWAYS
1. Leading rusher Jaden Judge, who hurt his knee two weeks ago against DeSoto, and was less than 100 percent last week against Booker, was held out of Friday night’s game. Without Judge’s 579 yards in the lineup, the Bruins struggled to run the ball. His replacement, LaDavion Johnson, gained 11 yards. “It was a game-time decision, and it was bothering him enough that he couldn’t be himself, so we shut him down,” said head coach Jamaal Sanders. “Just having Judge out made our offense lethargic. When you can’t run the ball, and all you’re doing is throwing the ball, teams can pin their ears back and become a pass-rushing team.”
2. In the loss to Booker last week, the Bruins allowed a punt return for a TD, allowed another long return, and had two punts of minus-1 and eight yards. And against North Port, the unit allowed a 53-yard punt return for a score by Tommy Bowdre, snapped a ball through its end zone for a safety, and nearly had two other punts blocked on low, skidding snaps. “I guess we have to pay more attention to it in practice,” Sanders said.
— Doug Fernandes
Palmetto 34, Southeast 19
BRADENTON — Davaughn Thomas made it look easy for a while Friday night, putting 14 points on the board the first two times he touched the ball. But the start-and-stop Tigers (3-2) wound up needing every one of them in a surprisingly competitive game at John Kiker Memorial Stadium.
The senior’s two breakaway touchdown runs – 42 yards on Palmetto’s second offensive snap and 37 to cap an 11-play, 82-yard drive – came in the game’s first 10 minutes, 5 seconds and the Tigers turned three short-field opportunities into a 27-7 halftime lead.
While the outcome was never in doubt, Palmetto managed only 150 total yards after those first two possessions, and Southeast senior Tooda Thomas (15-of-33, 235 yards, 2 TDs, 1 int) connected on TD strikes of 83 and 55 yards to inject some life into his winless Seminoles (0-6).
“It’s a win. We’ll take it,” Palmetto coach Rashad West said. “We’d do some good things, then we’d do some bad things. We’re searching for consistency on offense right now.”
It might have gotten even closer if not for Rok Lodge’s awareness of an obscure rule that led to an 84-yard punt return TD early in the third quarter. The 5-foot-9, 165-pound receiver snatched the ball from a Southeast player who picked up a 48-yard punt but failed to stop the ball’s movement.
“I did it on a punt return against IMG (White), and I saw that the refs allowed it. So I was like, ‘OK, let me see if I can do it again.’ I learned something that night.”
Palmetto, by rule, could even have chosen to bring the ball back to the spot it was touched if Lodge, for instance, had run 50 yards and fumbled.
“We all knew the rule,” West said. “They have to bring it to a stop and down the ball. That kid was just touching it, about to pick it up, and Rok knew nothing bad can happen after that, so he swooped in and grabbed it. We knew that, and it was big for us.”
PALMETTO TAKEAWAYS
1. Quarterback Clayton Dees (16-of-32, 194 yards, 1 TD), a Florida International commit, seems to be back to full health after suffering a sprained PCL and missing the Tigers’ regular-season opener. “I was struggling with it for a couple of games, but it’s to the point now that it’s not an issue,” he said. Dees has thrown for 683 yards and six touchdowns in four starts, with only two interceptions.
2. Thomas should be well-rested for Palmetto’s Class 4 Suburban-District 13 games against Lakewood Ranch and Manatee in the next three weeks, after getting only six touches (97 yards). “We have a rotation, and we just couldn’t sustain drives,” West said. “It didn’t allow him to be on the field as much as we’d want. But we have another good back (junior Jamari Parker) who deserves to play, too.” Thomas logged 59 carries (445 yards, 7 TDs) in the team’s first four games.
3. Senior kicker Brandon Gonzales could be an important weapon in those upcoming district games. He boomed four of his first five kickoffs into the end zone (the other followed a 15-yard penalty), converted all four of his extra points and added field goals of 28 and 24 yards. Kicker? It was big for us, him kicking the ball in the end zone for touchbacks,” West said. “It made (Southeast) have to go 80 yards.”
SOUTHEAST TAKEAWAYS
1. After being outscored 215-41 and allowing 43 or more points in four of five previous defeats, the 15-point loss – the closest of the season for the ’Noles – was almost a breath of fresh air for coach Brett Timmons. “As a collective whole, that was probably our best game this year,” he said. “It’s indicative of what we believe we are and what we can be. Hopefully, what that does is give us energy and resolve to know that if we just come to play, we can play with anybody.”
2. This was Southeast’s 14th loss in 15 games since closing the 2021 season with four consecutive wins, but Timmons has remained aggressive, choosing to roll the dice on fourth-and-1 from his own 29 while trailing just 17-7 midway through the second quarter. Instead, the move backfired, and Dees immediately threw a 29-yard TD pass to Lodge. “We had been moving the ball, running it at a pretty good clip and running it right at them,” Timmons said. “We thought we could get that inch. We took a chance, and we missed it. But as they say, you never miss the shots you don’t take.”
3. Mykell Gipson, a 6-foot senior, finished with 44 yards on 10 carries to lead his team’s ground game, breaking off runs of 5, 15 and 9 on his first three chances.
— Donnie Wilkie
Parrish Community 23, Mulberry 22 OT
TOP PLAYERS: PC, Jackson Volz 10-16, 85 yards, TD, 7 carries, 30 yards, Lane Tomlinson 1 carry, 1 yard, TD, Jermaine Edwards 6 carries, 31 yards, Brandon Trucano 2 catches, 2 yards, TD, Lane Tomlinson 3 catches, 49 yards, Jair Speaks fumble recovery, Gage Cameron 13 tackles, 1/2 sack, 2 QB hurries, Holton Graham 14 tackles, Ashton Springfield 17 tackles, 5 1/2 tackles for loss, Ben Biasini 18 tackles, 1 1/2 sacks, 2 QB hurries.
RECORD: Parrish Community 5-1.
NEXT: Braden River at Parrish Community, 7 p.m. Friday
Sarasota Christian 42, Lakeside Christian 14
TOP PLAYERS: SC: Ben Milliken (17-of-23 for 297 yards, 5 TDs), Justin Brock (4 catches for 101 yards, 1 TD, 59-yard punt return for TD), Judah Avery (3 catches for 101 yards, 3 TDs, 9 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL)
OF NOTE: Sarasota Christian is no 10-1 all time at home
RECORDS: Sarasota Christian 7-1, Lakeside Christian 3-4
NEXT GAME: Sarasota Christian hosts Shorecrest (7-0) Friday at 7 p.m.
Week 7 Results
FRIDAY
North Port 37, Bayshore 14
Bradenton Christian 72, Marco Island Academy 0
Charlotte 7. North Fort Myers 6
Venice 56, Manatee 24
Bell Creek at Out-of-Door Academy
Palmetto 34, Southeast 19
Parrish Community 23, Mulberry 22 OT
Port Charlotte 62, Riverdale 0
Berkeley Prep 20, Riverview 10
Saint Stephen’s Episcopal 24, St. Petersburg Catholic 0
Lakeside Christian at Sarasota Christian
IMG Academy National 49, Bartram Trail 20
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: High School Football: Venice, Palmetto, North Port post wins
