Does Venice have a chance against St. Thomas Aquinas?

[VeniceIndianFan]

So as we all know, Venice travels to Fort Lauderdale tomorrow to play STA for the fifth straight year. Venice has wins over Lakeland, Raines, Riverview, Clearwater, all by three touchdowns or more, and they plowed through 2 of their district opponents. They lost to Heritage and Manatee, two teams Aquinas beat by double digits. I think STA will win this game by 10, but Venice may be able to give them a solid game or even win outright if they play perfectly. Thoughts? Would love to hear some of your guys opinions on this.

[EagleEye]

Venice will give STA a run for their money keeping it neck and neck till 3rd quarter where they'll either make it or break it. Given how venice seems to blow past all of these teams l feel they will have enough energy for 3 quarters of STA and either crumble or dig deep for a win.

[DarterBlue2]

5 hours ago, VeniceIndiansFootball said:

So as we all know, Venice travels to Fort Lauderdale tomorrow to play STA for the fifth straight year. Venice has wins over Lakeland, Raines, Riverview, Clearwater, all by three touchdowns or more, and they plowed through 2 of their district opponents. They lost to Heritage and Manatee, two teams Aquinas beat by double digits. I think STA will win this game by 10, but Venice may be able to give them a solid game or even win outright if they play perfectly. Thoughts? Would love to hear some of your guys opinions on this.

If the game were at Venice, I would give you a puncher's chance. But going to their house is a bit too much to ask. Venice keeps it close for 1.5 quarters then Aquinas pulls away to win by 21 or more. 

[FLABOY941]

In all honesty, I think Venice will upset STA tonight. Venice is a well-coached, hard-nosed, disciplined football team. It will not be easy but I think they pull it off on the road. If we take STA out of the equation for the past 5 years, Venice wins possibly 3 state championships in that time period. One thing I notice about Venice is that they don't have near as many skill guys as the top teams they play against but they still win due to their toughness in the trenches. I couldn't imagine the Venice coaching staff coaching a team like STA, it would be like IMG playing in the playoffs. I'm not a Venice fan but I respect their program. 

[OldSchoolLion]

STA put up 33 points on a stout American Heritage defense and seems to be clicking coming into this game.  STA has won 47 straight playoff games at home dating back to 2003.  If I was a betting man, I would pick STA winning comfortably.   

[VeniceIndianFan]

25 minutes ago, OldSchoolLion said:

STA put up 33 points on a stout American Heritage defense and seems to be clicking coming into this game.  STA has won 47 straight playoff games at home dating back to 2003.  If I was a betting man, I would pick STA winning comfortably.   

I believe 3 of their touchdowns in that game were defensive. Not taking anything away from your post, but their offense just always seems to be a step or two behind their vaunted defense every year. In 2017 when they played Venice their offense just couldn’t manufacture points consistently enough to be able to win the game. The same thing occurred in 2018 when they couldn’t defeat Lakeland to win the championship. I don’t know how much that will play a factor tonight, but I actually only had Venice losing by 10. We’ll see I suppose.

[OldSchoolLion]

31 minutes ago, VeniceIndiansFootball said:

I believe 3 of their touchdowns in that game were defensive. Not taking anything away from your post, but their offense just always seems to be a step or two behind their vaunted defense every year. In 2017 when they played Venice their offense just couldn’t manufacture points consistently enough to be able to win the game. The same thing occurred in 2018 when they couldn’t defeat Lakeland to win the championship. I don’t know how much that will play a factor tonight, but I actually only had Venice losing by 10. We’ll see I suppose.

I'm not a huge fan of comparisons, but the the result of Manatee vs Venice and Manatee vs STA is pretty compelling.

[Cuervodog71]

Venice definitely has a chance.  Can't have turnovers and penalties.  Venice has to limit big plays from STA, especially on specials teams.  They need to follow the Gibbons blueprint and keep the ball on offense.  These are all typical schemes for winning football games, but they are difficult to accomplish against a good team.  It will be interesting to see if playing some stout opponents in the regular season pays off for Venice against STA.

 

Go Indians!

[nolebull813]

Yesterday I texted the Venice coach and said “you need more bulletin board material? STA is going for their 600th all time win tomorrow!” 

He just texted “dam”. 

Lol. 

[Legion37]

Yes but you can't have mistakes. Watching STA-Manatee, STA looked ready to go and clicking.

[Nulli Secundus]

16 hours ago, VeniceIndiansFootball said:

So as we all know, Venice travels to Fort Lauderdale tomorrow to play STA for the fifth straight year. Venice has wins over Lakeland, Raines, Riverview, Clearwater, all by three touchdowns or more, and they plowed through 2 of their district opponents. They lost to Heritage and Manatee, two teams Aquinas beat by double digits. I think STA will win this game by 10, but Venice may be able to give them a solid game or even win outright if they play perfectly. Thoughts? Would love to hear some of your guys opinions on this.

Venice has as good of a chance as anyone going up against a high-profile program.  The Indians must limit mistakes, execute the fundamentals and don't let the Raiders alter your game plan.  Dare I say, smash 'em in the mouth early and often to let them know you ain't scared.  Most teams lose against STA before they hit the field.

Sincerely,

Dreadnaught alum...

[181pl]

No.