After shutout loss, Palmetto tries to regroup for must-win trip to Venice

After shutout loss, Palmetto tries to regroup vs. Venice

PALMETTO -- The first meeting for Palmetto after its 35-0 pounding at the hands of Braden River on Oct. 23 was silent. The Tigers filed into Palmetto High School on Saturday in shock and frustration at what had occurred a night earlier. Now, it was time to watch the film from the debacle.

Before the team broke up into their groups to see what went wrong, head coach Dave Marino left his players with a message: What they were about to watch wasn't anything like they'd seen during their seven previous morning-after film studies. Palmetto's first shutout loss since 2012 wasn't a sign of some systematic breakdown, he told them. For one night, everything that could have gone wrong did, and it meant the Tigers could muster only 84 total yards of offense.

"We didn't play very good," Marino said. "You only have two options: You either lay down, cash in for the season or you fight back."

All week, Marino said, practices have gotten stronger after an understandably sluggish start to the week. By the end of practice Monday, senior defensive lineman David Belvin said the loss was placed firmly in the past. But Manatee County schools weren't in session that day, and when the rest of the student body returned Tuesday, the Tigers (6-2, 3-1 Class 7A-District 11) were reliving the loss again.

As the Tigers have spent the week looking toward Friday, they've also taken glances to their recent past. A year ago, when the Indians were one of the best teams in Class 6A, the Tigers trailed by 24 points with nearly eight minutes to go and only lost when a last-minute two-point conversion failed.

The year before, Palmetto trailed Bayshore by 31 before rallying for a victory. Not only was the loss to the Pirates, now ranked No. 2 in Class 7A unusual for this season -- it also ran counter to the Tigers' recent results after falling behind early.

The difference against Braden River was the offense's utter lack of early success against the Pirates' stout defense. Palmetto ran only six plays in the first quarter and was never able to work down the play sheet.

Marino contrasted it to Palmetto's one-point loss to Manatee earlier this season. The Tigers got creative. Belvin caught a touchdown pass. Running back Octavious James threw one. Palmetto did enough early to fire a slew of tricks at the Hurricanes. Starting fast has been a priority for the Tigers during their coming trip to Powell-Davis Stadium in Venice.

"You've got to weather the storm," Marino said. "If you don't jump out on them early and they jump out on you, you've got to keep fighting because it's easy to start looking at what's next."

When the season began, it was evident 7A-11 would be one of the toughest districts in the state with the addition of the Indians, who are now ranked No. 6 in 7A. Palmetto, despite reaching the playoffs in every season since Marino took over in 2010, had an uphill battle to make it six-straight postseason appearances.

But a week after having its confidence temporarily rattled, Palmetto can still salvage its season.

"It was just mental mistakes that we've got to fix," Belvin said Thursday. "I feel like we can execute tomorrow. I really feel confident about this game."

This story was originally published October 29, 2015 at 7:35 PM with the headline "After shutout loss, Palmetto tries to regroup for must-win trip to Venice ."