Burton is too much for Canes

BRADENTON — Manatee’s spirited second-half comeback was good.

Trey Burton, however, was better. Consequently, so were the Venice Indians.

Paced by their superstar quarterback, the Indians defeated the Hurricanes 43-29 Friday at Hawkins Stadium to clinch the Class 5A-District 10 championship.

The difference was the Florida-bound Burton, who threw for 253 yards and ran for 155. He also had a hand in five Venice touchdowns, rushing for three, including two in the second half.

“He’s the best we’ve ever gone against,” said coach Joe Kinnan, whose Canes are 0-3 against Burton. “Anybody that doubts he can play quarterback in college — he can play quarterback in college. He can do what (Florida quarterback Tim) Tebow does.”

Manatee (7-1, 2-1) made him work for his latest win, however. Down 28-13, the Hurricanes opened the second half by recovering an onsides kick, and needed less than eight minutes to score 16 points.

First came quarterback Brion Carnes’ 9-yard touchdown run. Then defensive lineman Drakkar Wilson tackled Venice’s Jeremy Boyle in the end zone for a safety. One play after receiving the free kick, Carnes hit receiver Ace Sanders (seven catches, 180 yards, two touchdowns) for a 48-yard touchdown pass, giving Manatee a 29-28 lead with 4:43 left in the third quarter.

Venice, however, pushed back, thanks to Burton. Facing 4th-and-9 on Manatee’s 35 on the following series, Burton found Boyle over the middle for a 34-yard gain. Burton’s ensuing 1-yard run gave Venice a lead the Indians never relinquished.

“They picked us apart throwing and running,” Kinnan said.

Manatee apparently found life during its last offensive drive, when wide receiver Chase Sandberg caught a pass from Carnes and clawed 15 yards into the end zone for a touchdown with just over two minutes remaining in the game.

The play was wiped away, however, when Manatee was called for aiding the runner.

“I’ve never seen that called in all my years of coaching,” Kinnan said.

There is a silver lining — Riverview defeated North Port on Friday, allowing Manatee to clinch a playoff spot. If the Indians and Canes win their first round games, they will meet in a regional semifinal Nov. 27 at Venice.

“We’re going to see them again,” said Carnes, who threw for 233 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, and ran for two scores. “We’ve got to stick together. We fell short (Friday), but next week and the week after, we’ve just got to pick it up and move on.”

Manatee heads to North Port next week before finishing the regular season Nov. 13 at Booker.

“They’d better bounce back,” Kinnan said. “You can’t give up 43 points. Defensively, that was not a very impressive showing.”