CLASS 7A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP: Venice runs away and shuts the door on Lake Mary on the way to program’s fourth state championship

MIAMI – What potentially could have been a potential showdown of two teams with offensive weapons and leading to a high-scoring affair turned into a running-clock beat down between Venice and Lake Mary, with the Indians winning the 2024 Class 7A State Championship, 52-19 at South Dade Kia Field at Pitbull Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

While early on it looked like Venice (14-1) and Lake Mary (12-3) were going to end up in a defensive battle, it would be mid-second quarter when the Indians finally got things going when all three phases of the game showed up in harmony to put Venice up big by halftime over the Rams.

Here are five takeaways from the game that saw the Indians win the state title:

WILDER WENT WILD

Gata Wilder has been an X factor for the Indians all year, and he showed once again why he has been a key contributor to the success of the 2024 season. To his credit, Wilder had three scoring touchdowns to pair with 178 yards rushing on 19 carries. The first touchdown for Wilder came on an 11-yard carry with 2:10 to go in the first quarter that would give the Indians a 7-0 lead. Wilder’s second touchdown came with just 25 seconds left before halftime with a 19-yard blast into the end zone that would make it 31-6 Venice. The final touchdown came with 6:28 left in the third quarter when Wilder scored on a seven-yard carry that would make it 38-13.

WATKINS SHOWED WHY SPECIAL TEAMS IS CRITICAL

Special teams are sometimes the forgotten third phase of any football game, and today, Winston Watkins showed why special teams could be so special when he returned a Noah Grubbs punt 60 yards for a touchdown late in the second quarter that made it 21-6 as the scoring was starting to heat up. Watkins was also special as he contributed greatly to the offensive scoring as he had two carries for 30 yards, both carries resulting in touchdowns and also hauled in nine catches for 76 yards.

NO ISAIAH THOMAS EQUALS LAKE MARY UNBALANCED

The Rams were without Isaiah Thomas due to injury, and this week, it showed significantly in the game as Grubbs was left to try to get the passing game going. Grubbs, who struggled to get pass completions, went 18-of-42 passing for 241 yards. To his credit, he did have three passing touchdowns, with two touchdowns going to Chase Hinshaw and the other which came late in the game going to Tyree Witherspoon. Overall, the rushing department left to pick up for Thomas had a collective effort of 17 carries for 66 yards and no touchdowns.

VENICE DOMINATION SHOWS IN OTHER STATS

In a comparison of stats between the two teams, Venice had 24 first downs compared to Lake Mary’s 16. Total offensive yards also went in Venice’s favor, with 488 yards compared to Lake Mary’s 307 yards. Even when it came to the turnover battle, it was a 2-to-1 ratio in favor of the Indians. Finally, when it came to penalties, both teams were nearly equal with 10 penalties a piece with Lake Mary having 78 penalty yards compared to Venice’s 75 yards.

FOURTH STATE TITLE FOR VENICE

The Indians finally have that coveted fourth state championship in program history after winning previous state titles in 2000, 2017, and 2021. For head coach John Peacock, his team was determined not to be the laughingstock of the state after losing in the Class 4S state championship games to Lakeland in 2022 and 2023. As such, now John Peacock has his third state championship in his 18th season of being the Indians’ head man.

VENICE HEAD COACH JOHN PEACOCK AFTER THE GAME

BOX SCORE

Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | OT | Final
Lake Mary | 0 | 6 | 7 | 6 | — | 19
Venice | 7 | 24 | 14 | 7 | — | 52

SCORING SUMMARY

FIRST

V – Gata Wilder 11 run (Brunno Reus kick), 2:10

SECOND

LM – Chase Hinshaw 4 pass from Noah Grubbs (Emilio Bacardi kick missed), 5:23

V – Malakai Corbett 37 pass from Jayce Nixon (Reus kick), 4:33

V – Winston Watkins Jr. 60 punt return (Reus kick), 2:31

V – Reus 39 FG, 1:20

V – Wilder 19 rush, 0:40

THIRD

LM – Hinshaw 14 pass from Grubbs (Bacardi kick), 8:47

V – Wilder 7 rush (Reus kick), 6:28

V – Watkins Jr. 8 rush (Reus kick), 1:15

FOURTH

V – Watkins Jr. 22 rush (Reus kick), 11:33

LM – Tyress Weatherspoon 32 pass from Grubbs (2 point attempt failed), 6:13