The Wandering Disciple

The Venice High School Indians take to the field under the lights of Powell-Davis Field during a 2016 high school football game. This year many high school sports were sidelined due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most spring athletes saw there seasons cancelled just a few games into the season and now the discussions are on the table about the fate of fall sports. While we all miss being side by side and supporting our favorite teams, we will be back there again soon. Until then, stay safe! (Photo: September 23, 2016)

Venice, Florida: The Lemon Bay Manta Rays JV squad traveled to Venice High School for a game against the Venice Indians. After a hard fought game by both sides, the Manta Rays fell to the Indians 3-2. Lemon Bay took an early lead by scoring a run in the first inning. But Venice bounced back with two runs in the bottom of the second. Venice added another run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Lemon Bay scored again in the top of the fifth but that was all they could push across as Venice held on for the 3-2 win. Click on the photo above to view the Lemon Bay/Venice photo gallery .

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, ca...

Venice, Florida:  A pack crowd including notable Venice football alumni filled into Powell-Davis Stadium on Friday night for Homecoming 2018.  Former Indian and Superbowl champ Trey Burton as well as last year's player of the year Bryce Carpenter watched this year's Indians crush their South Florida opponent Champagnat Catholic Lions 58-6. The Indians dominated the first half, outscoring the Lions 43-0.  Senior running back Brandon Gregory led the charge, giving the Indians 143 yards on the ground.  The Indians starters gave way to the reserves in the second half as they cruised to a 58-6 win. Click on the photo above to view my Indians/Lions photo gallery.

Venice, Florida: The capacity crowd at Powell Stadium was electric for Friday night lights as the Venice Indians hosted St Thomas Aquinas for the semi-finals of the Florida Class 7A football playoffs. The winner of this match-up would have their ticket punched for the state finals next weekend in Orlando. St Thomas Aquinas found the end zone first, scoring the first quarter on a defensive touchdown. Jaden Davis recovered a fumble and returned it 80 yards for a touchdown to give the Raiders a 7-0 lead. With less than a minute to go in the first quarter, the Raiders got three more points on a 40 yard field goal by Alex McCourt to make it 10-0. Venice got on the scoreboard in the second quarter following a ten yard run by quarterback Bryce Carpenter. St Thomas then answered with a 45 yard touchdown pass as Derek Wingo hit Nigel White for a touchdown. At the end of the first half, St Thomas Aquinas took a 17-7 lead into the locker room for halftime. The third quarter was all ...

Good luck to the Venice High School Indians football team as they travel to the east coast to face St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders in the Florida Class 7A Semi-finals. The undefeated Indians will have a tough battle against the Raiders who are ranked number 4 in the state. The winner will go on to the Florida State Championship at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. (Photo: September 23, 2016)

Venice, Florida: It was a battle of west coast versus east coast on Friday night at the Venice Indians hosted the Coral Reef Barracudas. The explosive attack of the Indians stunned the Barracudas as they had to take the long drive back to Miami after suffering a 68-0 loss. The Indians dominated both sides of the ball, putting on a big performance for the homecoming crowd. By the half, the Indians were sitting on a 61 point lead while holding Coral Reef to just one trip into the Red Zone all night. The Venice offensive attack was led by running back Matthew Laroche who had a big night, rushing for 190 yards and 4 touchdowns. In the air it was junior quarterback Bryce Carpenter who was 7 for 12 for 71 yards with the longest pass of the night being a 26 yard strike to tight end Aaron Hackett. Carpenter also chipped in with an additional 36 yards on the ground. While the offense was lighting up the scoreboard and sounding the canon, the defense was doing everything in their po...

A baserunner for the Venice Lady Indians dives back into second safely during a preseason game against the Booker Lady Tornadoes. (Photo: January 29, 2016)

An outfielder for the Booker High Lady Tornadoes jumps for the ball during a preseason game against the Venice High Lady Indians. (Photo: January 29, 2016)

Venice, Florida: Cool, crisp air set in over the field as the Venice Lady Indians hosted the Booker Lady Tornadoes in a preseason match-up as both teams prepare for the 2016 high school softball season. Despite being pretty evenly matched in the hit column, errors would doom the Lady Tornadoes as they were shut-out by the Lady Indians 6-0. Both clubs were held off the scoreboard through the first three frames. It wasn't until the bottom of the fourth that Venice broke the scoreless tie. The Lady Indians added four more runs in the fifth and another in the sixth to take a 6-0 lead. Booker threatened in the top of the seventh by loading the bases. But the Lady Tornadoes couldn't find a way to translate the baserunners into points on the scoreboard as they fell 6-0. Click on the photo above to view my Lady Tornadoes/Lady Indians photo gallery .

Venice, Florida:  The weather may have been chilly, but the action of the field was hot as the Venice Indians hosted the Armwood Hawks in the Class 6A Regional Semifinals on Friday night at Powell-Davis Stadium.  There was a lot riding on this game as the winner will get their ticket punched for the Regional Finals and be one step closer to the State Championship while the loser will see their season come to an end. Coming into the game, Venice was looking to avenge their loss to the Hawks last season in the opening round of the playoffs.  But the Hawks came to Venice as one of the hottest teams in the league, only surrendering 23 points on the year and not giving up a single point in their last five games. The Indians got the ball to start off the game.  They marched the ball quickly downfield before a fumbled stalled the drive.  From there it only took one play to put the Hawks in the endzone as quarterback Noah Johnson connected with receiver Dennis Har...

Venice, Florida: The crowd was just as electric as the lightning that lit up the sky on Friday night as the Venice Indians hosted the Port Charlotte Pirates in the game of the week. What started as a battle of the top seeds in the region ended with a 35-6 win by the host Indians. The Indians won the coin toss and elected to receive the kick. The set the tempo of the game, marching the opening drive down the field. Langston Provitt punched it in from four yards out to give the Indians a 7-0 lead. After exchanging a few stalled drives, the Indians found paydirt again. This time it was quarterback Bryce Carpenter scrambling 56 yard on the option for the touchdown. The Indians would add one more before the half. Carpenter tossed it to Provitt who in turn would throw it 66 yards downfield to Noah Montgomery to give the Indians a 21-0 lead heading into the locker room at half time. A bolt of lightning across the field during halftime put the game into a lightning delay and e...

North Port, Florida: Despite taking an early lead, the North Port Bobcats were unable to match the offensive attack of the Venice Indians as they suffered a 49-20 loss to the top seed in the division. The Indians struck for 28 points in the second quarter, leading them to their fifth win in a row. The Bobcats won the toss and elected to defer to the second half. On the first play from scrimmage, Brandon Engell recovered a fumble to give the Bobcats the ball on the 18 yard line. The drive stalled on the 6 yard line and Gasto Orsetti kicked a 21 yard field goal to give the Bobcats a 3-0 lead. The Indians answered back with a 67 yard scoring drive that ended with a QB keeper by Grant Flessner for the score. The keeper and the point after gave the Indians a 7-3 lead. The Bobcats forced another fumble to set up their second scoring drive. Quinn Bass recovered a fumble on the 26 yard line during the Indian’s punt return. The Bobcats drove the ball to the 8 yard line on a rush by quart...