Prep football | Braden River shuts out Venice to reach region final

EAST MANATEE -- Braden River spent the week before its Class 7A-Region 3 semifinal game expecting -- knowing, really -- that Venice would try some looks offensively it hadn't tried all season for its rematch against the Pirates.

Some were big and obvious: The Indians raced into BRHS territory to start the game at Braden River High School's football stadium with a no-huddle attack.

Most of the changes were smaller tweaks, tough to notice without specifically looking for them.

One was Venice's decision to move Jaivon Heiligh. The 6-foot-2 wide receiver typically plays on the short side of the field where BRHS plays Tyrone Collins. This time, the Indians had him on the opposite end and Braden River sent its sophomore defensive back to chase him. Once again, he shut down Heiligh, made two interceptions and the Pirates handed Venice a 17-0 loss.

"That kid's a great player," head coach Curt Bradley said. "Tyrone's a special young man."

The Indians only crossed into BRHS territory once after their opening drive, which stalled at the 42-yard line, and both times Braden River (12-0) stuffed Venice (10-2) in the red zone.

Trailing 17-0 in the final minute of the third quarter, the Indians took their second shot at a fourth down from inside the Pirates' 10. Bryce Carpenter took the snap at the 5 and quickly turned to his left. The quarterback tried floating a pass to Heiligh and Collins extended his body as long as it could go.

The 6-foot defensive back went head to head with the towering sophomore wideout and knocked the pass to the ground without Heiligh getting a hand on it.

"Coach figured out I'm a good corner, so I made some good plays when I got in there," Collins said. "I basically just played man on him."

From the opening coin toss, Venice tried to test the Pirates' vaunted defense. The Indians won the toss and chose to take the ball, trying to score against a unit that has allowed only 95 points all season.

When the BRHS captains left midfield to join their teammates running on to the field, Bradley called out to Jacob Huesman.

"Tell them they wanted the ball and want to score," the coach told his senior quarterback.

The Indians started at their 20 after a touchback and, seven plays later, were across midfield to Braden River's 45. This was where their march ended.

With a sack by defensive end Chase Knopf and a pass breakup by Collins, Venice turned the ball over on downs and didn't get back across midfield until the second half.

"They came out in a formation we had never seen and they moved the ball on us real good," Bradley said. "We rose to the occasion when we had to."

With touchdown runs by Dexter Hodo and Deshaun Fenwick, and an 18-yard field goal by Kyle Thoma, the Pirates went into halftime with a 17-0 lead. Against their defense, it was insurmountable.

The Indians took their first drive of the second half from their own 8 all the way to BRHS 8 before defensive end Paul Wiggins forced a turnover on downs with a sack.

Two plays later, Venice had the ball in the red zone again. The Indians' pass rush overwhelmed Huesman and defensive end Kade Sleight grabbed an interception at the 19.

Then came Venice's second fourth-down gamble and Collins' second pass defense to preserve the lead. He ended the Indians' next drive with an interception. The pick let Huesman come back to the field to take a knee and send Braden River into Friday's region final at Plant City.

"It feels good, man," Collins said. "We finally got our momentum together."

This story was originally published November 20, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Prep football | Braden River shuts out Venice to reach region final ."