Did you attend the game? Did you personally see these events happen, or are you just going on the words of this Venice High School Homer Message Board poster? 

Please be more specific about "the penalties being very slanted at Venice in the game". Are you claiming that the officiating crew for the Venice-Lake Mary games was from the local Officiating Association in Central Florida?   

So, just to be clear, per the FHSAA rankings (that would have been used to determine the so-called top 8 teams that would have participated in the "Open Division" playoffs), the following teams would have been left out (because, according to the rankings, they were not as good as the 8 teams named above):  STA (who finished the season ranked 10th in the MaxPreps National poll), Raines (25th in the same poll), Miami Central (49th), West Boca Raton, Chaminade-Madonna, American Heritage, Lake Mary, Lakeland, Cardinal Newman, West Broward, Venice, Armwood and Edgewater.  How can the FHSAA say, with a straight face, that their system works? 

I agree that this is totally inappropriate.   The game officials should go out of their way to 'avoid the appearance of impropriety.'  A subtle nod of the head prior to the game would about as far as they should go.  Calling kids by name (even if they know the kid's name) and 'high-fiving' a kid clearly crosses the line.  The officials should have been smarter than that.  

Just read the agenda and I was right about the LM game.  It really did have a bad look.