Venice Indians vs Bloomingdale Bulls

Venice, Florida: As we get deeper and deeper into playoff football, the field of teams gets smaller and smaller as we enter the Regional Playoffs, or the final four. The Venice Indians hosted the Bloomingdale Bulls in the Class 7A-Region 3 final on Friday night at Powell-Davis Stadium. The first half was a shoot out with both teams evenly matched with the Bulls heading into the locker room with a slim three-point lead. But halftime adjustments gave the Indians the edge with 28 unanswered points in the second half, leading the home team Indians to a 57-32 win.

The Bulls got on the scoreboard first with a pick-6 interception by Levi Williams. A quick pass from Jon Catala to Quinton Mccoy on the PAT gave the Bulls 8-0 lead. Venice answered with a 70-yard drive capped by a seven yard touchdown run by Brandon Gregory, the Indians also completed a two point conversion to tie the game 8-8. Bloomingdale later forced an Indian turnover on a fumble marched the ball down the field, capping the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by Charles Montgomery to give them a 15-8 lead to end the first quarter.

Venice got the second quarter started with a bang. They spread the field out as quarterback Hayden Wolff hit a wide-open Zach Sessa for an 83-yard touchdown pass to tie the game. But that was instantly met with an air assault by Bloomingdale, reaching the endzone on a Lance Alderson 48-yard touchdown pass to Terrel Farrell to give the Bulls a 22-15 lead. The back and forth battle continued with Venice marching down the field and scoring on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Wolff to Trapani to tie the game. After a failed onside kick by the Indians gave the Bulls good field position, the Indians defense came up big, forcing a red zone turnover in which Denique Mayfield went coast-to-coast for a 71 yard fumble recovery for a touchdown to give Venice their first lead of the night. Bloomingdale answered with a 15-yard touchdown run by Montgomery to tie the game once again. The Bulls cut short the Indians next drive with an interception to set up kicker Jacob McDonald for a 42-yard field goal as the time expired in the half, sending Bloomingdale to the locker room with a 32-29 lead at the half.

The second half would be a much different style than the first. This time Venice dominated, and they dominated the entire second half. Keeping the Bulls scoreless in the final two quarters. After the Bulls failed to convert on fourth down, the Indians marched down the field, scoring on a 15-yard touchdown reception by Zach Fryar to give the Indians back the lead. Later in the quarter Gregory took the ball to the house on a 10-yard touchdown run. The Indians would get another TD in the third quarter, this one coming on Trapani’s second touchdown run of the night to put the Indians ahead 50-32. The scoring slowed down in the fourth quarter. 

The only points of the fourth quarter came on a 2-yard touchdown run to give the Indians the 57-32 margin of victory and a ticket to the semi-finals.

With the win, Venice advances to the Class 7-A semifinals where they will face a tough opponent in St Thomas Aquinas team next Friday in Fort Lauderdale. This will be third year in a row that these two powerhouse programs met in the playoffs. Venice defeated the Raiders last season in the semifinals enroute to a state championship.

Click on the photo above to view my Indians/Bulls photo gallery.