The DeLand Bulldogs will head out on the road to face off against the Venice Indians at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as DeLand comes in on six and Venice on 11.
It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but DeLand had no problem doing just that on Friday. They really took it to the Titans for the full four quarters, racking up a 37-6 victory on the road. DeLand's victory was all the more impressive since Treasure Coast was averaging only 18.08 points allowed on the season.
DeLand relied on the efforts of Javon Ross, who picked up 204 receiving yards and three touchdowns, and Tyron Moore, who rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown on only 15 carries.
Meanwhile, Venice can now show off nine landslide victories after their most recent matchup on Friday. They blew past Riverview Sarasota 49-23. Given Venice's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 15th, while Riverview Sarasota is ranked 62nd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Jadyn Glasser went supernova for Venice, throwing for 350 yards and four touchdowns while completing 85% of his passes, and also punching in a touchdown on the ground. Charles Lester iii "cl3" also deserves a shout-out for his two touchdowns.
The team's defense also helped out by holding Riverview Sarasota to a paltry 246 yards. A big part of that defensive dominance came down to Venice's ability to keep the quarterback under pressure: the team laid the passer out three times before it was all said and done. David Galloway was especially locked on to Riverview Sarasota's QB and sacked him twice.
DeLand pushed their record up to 11-2 with that victory, which was their fourth straight on the road. As for Venice, their victory bumped their record up to an identical 11-2.
We should be in store for an exciting game Friday as both teams have no problem gaining yardage. DeLand has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 366.8 total yards per game. However, it's not like Venice struggles in that department as they've been even better at 440.5 per game. With a pair of commanding offenses duking it out, the defenses are going to have their work cut out for them. Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
