On Friday fans watched as two of the best teams in the nation hit the field. The Clearwater Central Catholic Marauders fell 27-20 to the Venice Indians. It was the first time this season that the Marauders let down their fans at home.
Several Marauders players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Jershaun Newton, who rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown, and also threw for 167 yards on 11 of 18 attempts. Another back making a difference was Sean Cuono, who rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Clearwater Central Catholic was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 242 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 168 rushing yards in eight consecutive games.
Clearwater Central Catholic wouldn't let Venice keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force three fumbles. Clearwater Central Catholic can thank Drake Witt and Tyrique Harris for forcing all of them. Clearwater Central Catholic got some further help from Keo Jenkins: he made 11 total tackles (2.0 for loss).
It was another big night for Gata Wilder, who rushed for 265 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 12.6 yards per carry for Venice. Wilder's longest rush was for an incredible 71 yards. Malakai Corbett did his part to keep the secondary busy, picking up 100 receiving yards.
Clearwater Central Catholic's defeat ended an 11-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 7-1. As for Venice, they pushed their record up to 7-1 with the victory, which was their fifth straight on the road dating back to last season.
Both teams are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Clearwater Central Catholic will host St. Frances Academy at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. St. Frances Academy knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 31 points or more in their past three contests -- so hopefully Clearwater Central Catholic likes a good challenge. As for Venice, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Sarasota at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Venice is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 51.7 points per game this season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
