Venice 49 Naples 28

[VeniceIndianFan]

Venice defeated Naples 49-28 at Staver Field in their spring game. Offensive line looks good but both QB's need time to build chemistry with the receiving corps. 14 of Naples' points came off of turnovers. One of them was a pick-6 off of a batted pass while the other was an interception returned to our 7-yard line.  Defensive line needs more time in the weight room and a lot of fine-tuning. There were some big plays made in the secondary, but they have 3 new starters back there and it showed. A phenomenal first half was followed by a terrible third quarter where Naples nearly tied the game at 35 all, but a fumble recovered by DT Ryan Daly led to a 95-yard touchdown drive to basically put the game out of reach. 

Overall, I was happy with what I saw. Venice had a great first half and did what they needed to do to close out the game. Not a bad starting point at all. Go Indians!!

[DarterBlue2]

2 hours ago, VeniceIndianFan said:

Venice defeated Naples 49-28 at Staver Field in their spring game. Offensive line looks good but both QB's need time to build chemistry with the receiving corps. 14 of Naples' points came off of turnovers. One of them was a pick-6 off of a batted pass while the other was an interception returned to our 7-yard line.  Defensive line needs more time in the weight room and a lot of fine-tuning. There were some big plays made in the secondary, but they have 3 new starters back there and it showed. A phenomenal first half was followed by a terrible third quarter where Naples nearly tied the game at 35 all, but a fumble recovered by DT Ryan Daly led to a 95-yard touchdown drive to basically put the game out of reach. 

Overall, I was happy with what I saw. Venice had a great first half and did what they needed to do to close out the game. Not a bad starting point at all. Go Indians!!

Overall, did Venice meet or beat your expectations? Are there impact kids that will be in the lineup come summer that missed this game?

[VeniceIndianFan]

35 minutes ago, DarterBlue2 said:

Overall, did Venice meet or beat your expectations? Are there impact kids that will be in the lineup come summer that missed this game?

Offense met my expectations. Offensive line looks extremely good. The defensive line needs work. The secondary played well but there were times where it was obvious that we have 3 new starters back there. The impact transfers that we have all played: Jadyn Glasser, Ryan Daly, Jayce Barksdale, and Ryan Browne all look like valuable pieces that will make a difference right away. It looks like cornerback Charles Lester has transferred back to Riverview for his senior season. Overall expecting a good season from Venice with a return to the state championship as the expectation. But I am certainly not overlooking Osceola, Lakeland, Manatee, Buccholz, Bartram Trail, etc. Whom all look equally as good on paper and could derail our plans with just one bad night. 

[DarterBlue2]

9 hours ago, VeniceIndianFan said:

Offense met my expectations. Offensive line looks extremely good. The defensive line needs work. The secondary played well but there were times where it was obvious that we have 3 new starters back there. The impact transfers that we have all played: Jadyn Glasser, Ryan Daly, Jayce Barksdale, and Ryan Browne all look like valuable pieces that will make a difference right away. It looks like cornerback Charles Lester has transferred back to Riverview for his senior season. Overall expecting a good season from Venice with a return to the state championship as the expectation. But I am certainly not overlooking Osceola, Lakeland, Manatee, Buccholz, Bartram Trail, etc. Whom all look equally as good on paper and could derail our plans with just one bad night. 

Bartram Trail has a stud senior QB. Not sure about the quality of their defense. 

[LakelandGator]

When was Lester enrolled at Venice?

[Dr. D]

13 hours ago, DarterBlue2 said:

Bartram Trail has a stud senior QB. Not sure about the quality of their defense. 

Bartram Trail does return Trujillo at QB and top RB (Biddle), so they should continue to be explosive on offense.  Defense allowed 16 ppg last year, but did lose their top defender (Denson) to UF.  Hard to imagine Buccholz being as dynamic without a Whittemore at QB (Creed) or on the sidelines (Mark).  Niceville should be better, but beyond these three, 4S Region 1 is pretty weak.  

[NHS Bob]

When I saw the Indians during warmups, I noticed their size and speed advantage.  They played about like I expected, and we made it close, but the game was never in doubt.  Like Coach Martin said, playing a team like Venice only made us better.  They exposed some weaknesses and we will have plenty to work on over the summer.  

[PinellasFB]

11 minutes ago, NHS Bob said:

When I saw the Indians during warmups, I noticed their size and speed advantage.  They played about like I expected, and we made it close, but the game was never in doubt.  Like Coach Martin said, playing a team like Venice only made us better.  They exposed some weaknesses and we will have plenty to work on over the summer.  

Does Naples have their usual D1 prospect at RB?  Seems like they have one every year.

[VeniceIndianFan]

On 5/22/2023 at 9:03 AM, NHS Bob said:

When I saw the Indians during warmups, I noticed their size and speed advantage.  They played about like I expected, and we made it close, but the game was never in doubt.  Like Coach Martin said, playing a team like Venice only made us better.  They exposed some weaknesses and we will have plenty to work on over the summer.  

Naples will be fine and should compete for the 3S title once again. Your Golden Eagles nearly came all the way back to tie the game at 35 all. Our primary weakness was what we thought it would be: our defensive line. 4 new kids are starting on the line and it's going to be tough for Elijah Jones to fill Damon Wilson's shoes. Ryan Daly was able to take some double teams off of Shamar Littles which led to pressures several times. Our secondary also needs work as we have 3 brand new starters back there and it was obvious a few times. 

Your Eagles have no quit in them! Can't wait to see how both teams look when the season starts.

[VeniceIndianFan]

If it wasn’t official before, it’s official now! Charles Lester, one of the top DB prospects in the class of 2024, is a Venice Indian!!

[KeemD321]

On 5/30/2023 at 4:53 PM, VeniceIndianFan said:

If it wasn’t official before, it’s official now! Charles Lester, one of the top DB prospects in the class of 2024, is a Venice Indian!!

Saw it on Twitter. Defense is gonna be stout. Looking forward to seeing Cocoa's receivers and sophomore QB match-up against the Venice secondary. How are the other 3 to 4 DBs looking for Venice?

[VeniceIndianFan]

8 minutes ago, KeemD321 said:

Saw it on Twitter. Defense is gonna be stout. Looking forward to seeing Cocoa's receivers and sophomore QB match-up against the Venice secondary. How are the other 3 to 4 DBs looking for Venice?

Deylen Platt and Charles Fleming both looked good, and the addition of Charles Lester makes our secondary extremely good. Scoring on Venice through the air will be tough. However, our glaring weakness is still the defensive line.

They need more time together in the weight room and fine-tuning of their skills. Naples made our defensive line look silly at times throughout the spring game, especially in the third quarter where they were a fumbled snap at the 2-yard line away from tying the game at 35-all. There were times when their QB had 7 seconds to survey the field. Our secondary, even as good as it will be, cannot cover receivers for 5-7 seconds while the defensive line is held to a stalemate.
 

Our brand new defensive line is a bad matchup against your Tigers, who return 4 of their offensive lineman and a veteran group of receivers that will challenge us across the board. If Cocoa is able to scheme their receivers open against Venice’s powerful secondary, Boda will probably have 4+ seconds to survey the field and find an open receiver consistently. Something needs to change in a big way over the summer. 

Overall, Cocoa fans should feel extremely confident about that week 2 matchup with Venice. At home, with Venice coming off a tough game against Armwood on a short travel week. Couldn’t ask for a better scenario to KO Venice. Hope ESPN picks it up. 

[KeemD321]

1 hour ago, VeniceIndianFan said:

Deylen Platt and Charles Fleming both looked good, and the addition of Charles Lester makes our secondary extremely good. Scoring on Venice through the air will be tough. However, our glaring weakness is still the defensive line.

They need more time together in the weight room and fine-tuning of their skills. Naples made our defensive line look silly at times throughout the spring game, especially in the third quarter where they were a fumbled snap at the 2-yard line away from tying the game at 35-all. There were times when their QB had 7 seconds to survey the field. Our secondary, even as good as it will be, cannot cover receivers for 5-7 seconds while the defensive line is held to a stalemate.
 

Our brand new defensive line is a bad matchup against your Tigers, who return 4 of their offensive lineman and a veteran group of receivers that will challenge us across the board. If Cocoa is able to scheme their receivers open against Venice’s powerful secondary, Boda will probably have 4+ seconds to survey the field and find an open receiver consistently. Something needs to change in a big way over the summer. 

Overall, Cocoa fans should feel extremely confident about that week 2 matchup with Venice. At home, with Venice coming off a tough game against Armwood on a short travel week. Couldn’t ask for a better scenario to KO Venice. Hope ESPN picks it up. 

Boda is at Coastal Carolina right now but they have a 6'5 sophomore that transferred over from Melbourne. He picked up some major offers over the 7v7 tournaments after transferring to Cocoa and he's goes to the same QB trainer and the rest of the top QBs go to Trujillo. Cocoa has about 7 or receivers they'll be rotating and picked up a second kicker/punter so now they have 2 really good kickers unless the foreign exchange student graduated. Also a few athletes just transferred in as well. 

Should be a great game and they'll know what they need to improve early since their week 1 game is at the Citrus Bowl (CWS) against Jones.

[Cocoafanone]

Tigers kicker from last year, Mao Saito is too old to play this fall.  Welcome P/K Gunnar Trout from Merrittt Island to Tigerland!  Cocoa should be in the State Championship game again this year a rematch vs Florida High who have a lot of starters returning on offense, but the Tigers are loaded on defense!  Tiger Pride!

 

[VeniceIndianFan]

2 minutes ago, Cocoafanone said:

Tigers kicker from last year, Mao Saito is too old to play this fall.  Welcome P/K Gunnar Trout from Merrittt Island to Tigerland!  Cocoa should be in the State Championship game again this year a rematch vs Florida High who have a lot of starters returning on offense, but the Tigers are loaded on defense!  Tiger Pride!

 

I’ll be rooting for them, but not in week 2! Lol. But to your point, Cocoa is undoubtedly the clear cut favorite in 2S. 

[KeemD321]

1 hour ago, Cocoafanone said:

Tigers kicker from last year, Mao Saito is too old to play this fall.  Welcome P/K Gunnar Trout from Merrittt Island to Tigerland!  Cocoa should be in the State Championship game again this year a rematch vs Florida High who have a lot of starters returning on offense, but the Tigers are loaded on defense!  Tiger Pride!

 

Thanks. Merritt Island is losing a lot of players. I'm assuming Trout is related to the other k/p that transferred to Holy Trinity from Merritt Island 

[VeniceIndianFan]

Receiver Griffin Gisotti is transferring from Cardinal Gibbons to Venice for his senior season. Venice’s offense is looking more and more scary by the day. 

[DarterBlue2]

27 minutes ago, VeniceIndianFan said:

Receiver Griffin Gisotti is transferring from Cardinal Gibbons to Venice for his senior season. Venice’s offense is looking more and more scary by the day. 

In that case, I am glad 8A is gone.  APK needs a title this year or it's going to be a long time.  The last thing it needs is to face a star studded team packed with key transfers.

Facing Columbus, a private with enormous resources, is bad enough.

[VeniceIndianFan]

14 minutes ago, DarterBlue2 said:

In that case, I am glad 8A is gone.  APK needs a title this year or it's going to be a long time.  The last thing it needs is to face a star studded team packed with key transfers.

Facing Columbus, a private with enormous resources, is bad enough.

Apopka came very close last season to winning that game over Columbus. Your Darters return 6 defensive starters from last season. It’s not ideal to lose 5 extremely solid players but you certainly have a strong foundation in place to challenge for the 3M title once again. 
 

Miami Columbus is going to have a fairly new offensive line this coming season. As long as your offense can find a way to manufacture 24 points and avoid major errors, your defensive line should get enough pressure to hold them to 17 points and win the game for you.

But as usual, time will tell.

[Ray Icaza]

1 hour ago, VeniceIndianFan said:

Receiver Griffin Gisotti is transferring from Cardinal Gibbons to Venice for his senior season. Venice’s offense is looking more and more scary by the day. 

Previous school was Cardinal Mooney and don't know much about this young man other than when I looked him up, he is unrated with zero offers, totaling 107 receiving yards in 11 games last year; despite that, maybe he will make their offense scary. 

[DarterBlue2]

25 minutes ago, VeniceIndianFan said:

Apopka came very close last season to winning that game over Columbus. Your Darters return 6 defensive starters from last season. It’s not ideal to lose 5 extremely solid players but you certainly have a strong foundation in place to challenge for the 3M title once again. 
 

Miami Columbus is going to have a fairly new offensive line this coming season. As long as your offense can find a way to manufacture 24 points and avoid major errors, your defensive line should get enough pressure to hold them to 17 points and win the game for you.

But as usual, time will tell.

We actually return 8 kids with significant playing time on defense last year. Defense is not our issue. Offensively we need to establish an identity quickly.

[VeniceIndianFan]

1 hour ago, DarterBlue2 said:

We actually return 8 kids with significant playing time on defense last year. Defense is not our issue. Offensively we need to establish an identity quickly.

Best of luck to your Darters. Sounds like another low-scoring showdown with Columbus is approaching; hopefully with different results this time! 

[VeniceIndianFan]

5 hours ago, Ray Icaza said:

Previous school was Cardinal Mooney and don't know much about this young man other than when I looked him up, he is unrated with zero offers, totaling 107 receiving yards in 11 games last year; despite that, maybe he will make their offense scary. 

He will probably be more of a blocker/screen receiver than anything else. Venice really doesn’t have much of a passing game, so if the idea of Charles Lester, Ryan Matulevich, Jamarice Wilder, and Griffin Gisotti lining up out wide means that we can see some lighter boxes for our running backs to operate, we’re all for it. 

[Ray Icaza]

3 hours ago, VeniceIndianFan said:

He will probably be more of a blocker/screen receiver than anything else. Venice really doesn’t have much of a passing game, so if the idea of Charles Lester, Ryan Matulevich, Jamarice Wilder, and Griffin Gisotti lining up out wide means that we can see some lighter boxes for our running backs to operate, we’re all for it. 

Understood.  Wasn't meant as criticism of this young man, just couldn't find much of a track record but hope he has a breakout season. 

[VeniceIndianFan]

6 minutes ago, Ray Icaza said:

Understood.  Wasn't meant as criticism of this young man, just couldn't find much of a track record but hope he has a breakout season. 

Hope so too, but he will likely be called upon to block more than anything else. How has Osceola looked in earlier practices? Are they living up to your expectations so far?