Preview: Lakewood Ranch Mustangs vs. Venice Indians
Lakewood Ranch is 0-7 against Venice since October of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Lakewood Ranch Mustangs will head out on the road to face off against the Venice Indians at 7:30 p.m. Lakewood Ranch will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Florida Rankings (they are ranked 306th, while Venice is ranked 14th).
Last Friday, Lakewood Ranch took a serious blow against Booker, falling 42-13.
Meanwhile, Venice entered their tilt with Clearwater Academy International with seven consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with eight. Venice walked away with a 53-42 win over Clearwater Academy International on Friday. This was one game where the offenses had no trouble playing at a high level.
Jamarice Wilder went supernova for Venice, rushing for 177 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 7.4 yards per carry. Jayce Barlsdale did his part to keep the secondary busy, picking up 125 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Lakewood Ranch's loss dropped their record down to 4-6. As for Venice, they pushed their record up to 8-2 with that victory, which was their seventh straight at home.
Lakewood Ranch was dealt a bruising 61-7 defeat at the hands of Venice when the teams last played back in October of 2021. Thankfully for Lakewood Ranch, Damarion Escort (who rushed for 158 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries, and also picked up 41 receiving yards) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
