The Venice Indians are headed away from home for the first time to square off against the Bishop Verot Vikings at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both will really light up the scoreboard.
Venice's upcoming matchup probably won't be as stressful as their last, when they took on another nationally ranked opponent: Northwestern, who was ranked 60th at the time (Venice was ranked 47th). Venice secured a 48-42 W over Northwestern on Friday. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Indians.
Gata Wilder was nothing short of spectacular: he rushed for 314 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 8.5 yards per carry. Winston Watkins Jr. was another key player, gaining 83 total yards and two touchdowns.
Venice's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Layne Kisovic and Kyni Brantley. Brantley also put in work on the defensive side of the ball, making five total tackles (1.0 for loss) and defending two passes in addition to snagging an interception. Venice got some further help from Dillon Bryant: he picked up a sack and made 11 total tackles (1.0 for loss).
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Venice was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 419 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 204 rushing yards in five consecutive contests dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, everything came up roses for Bishop Verot on the road against Tampa Catholic on Friday as the squad secured a 54-12 win. Given the Vikings' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 24th, while the Crusaders are ranked 104th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Bishop Verot relied on the efforts of Deshon Jenkins Jr, who rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns, and Carter Smith, who threw for 122 yards and two touchdowns. Jenkins Jr got the majority of those yards when he took off on a run and that went for an incredible62 yards. Marquan Young also helped with two touchdowns in total.
Venice's victory was their 13th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 2-0. As for Bishop Verot, their record now sits at 2-0.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
