The Venice Indians face the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders in a Class 7A state semifinal at Brian Piccolo Stadium on Friday night. It is the third consecutive year that they have met each other in the same round. The Raiders routed the Indians 46-8 at Fort Lauderdale in 2016 while the Indians stopped the defending three-time state champion Raiders 27-20 in Venice last year.
Venice(12-1) is the defending FHSAA Class 7A state champions and have won 12 consecutive games since a loss in their season opener to Vero Beach. They have outscored their opponents 585-207 this year. The Indians topped Tampa Bay Tech 59-23 in the regional quarterfinal, got by district rival Braden River 28-21 in the regional semifinal and pounced on Bloomingdale 57-23 in the regional final. Quarterback Hayden Wolff will be looked upon to guide their offense.
St. Thomas Aquinas(12-1) have not lost a home playoff game since 2003. The Raiders outscored South Miami 77-20 in a regional quarterfinal, bashed Fort Lauderdale 51-0 in a regional semifinal and shut out Dwyer 35-0 last week in a regional final. STA has outscored their opponents 628-92 this season. They have won eight straight games entering this contest and reached the state semifinal 13 of the last 15 seasons.
The Raiders offense can keep their opponents unbalanced with a mix of running and passing. Quarterback Curt Casteel leads their passing attack and is expected to find Marcus Rosemy, Xavier Restrepo, Jamal Cooney, Jahvante Royal and The'andris Freeman downfield for pass completions. Running backs Daniel Carter and Nigel White will get their share of rushing opportunities.
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