Braden River-Venice top Week 6 football games. Manatee, Palmetto, Southeast roll in wins

It’s become a vibrant rivalry the last two years, and a game that Braden River has circled since the schedules came out.

The Pirates play host to Venice High in a game that should see a large crowd in East Manatee next Thursday.

Venice won the district title and knocked Braden River out of the playoffs in 2016.

The year before, Braden River won both games, including eliminating Venice from the playoffs.

The weakness to the 2016 meetings for the Pirates was Venice’s dominance on third and fourth down conversions, while Braden River’s linebackers couldn’t tackle Matt “Speedy” Laroche.

Well, Laroche graduated and Venice’s running game mainly goes through elusive quarterback Bryce Carpenter.

While Braden River’s linebackers are a key defensively, the Pirates must figure out how to play against an up-tempo, no-huddle offense. Venice went to that in 2016, and Braden River struggled to match the Indians in both meetings without freely substituting players or making adjustments prior to a play starting.

It even happened again way back in August when Braden River opened the season at the ESPN Wide World of Sports to play Chatfield (Littleton, Colo.) High.

The Chargers scored 32 points and gained more than 230 yards on the ground with a fast-paced offense.

Takeaways

1. Palmetto’s 24-13 win Friday was significant. Regardless of Lakeland Lake Gibson losing players, including quarterback Kevaris Thomas to transfer, the Braves still possess a no-joke defense and are the reigning Class 6A state runner-up. The win, especially on the road, was huge.

2. So much for the Texas united front. It didn’t take long for furor against IMG Academy to last. Two Texas coaches were spotted watching potential recruits line up when the Ascenders Blue team defeated Miami Central, 24-15. Before the season started, Texas head coach Tom Hermann criticized IMG and said he’d discourage recruits from transferring to IMG.

Baylor head coach Matt Rhule went further and said the Bears wouldn’t recruit at schools like IMG Academy, who poach Texas talent and aren’t a traditional high school. Prior to the late July comments, which were spoken at a Texas high school football coaches convention, IMG linebacker Ayodele Adeoye was already a Longhorns commit. However, the two Texas coaches weren’t there Friday just to check in on Adeoye, but to see the bevy of stars between the Ascenders and Rockets.

3. Manatee’s offense can hum with Keyon Fordham getting the ball as often as possible. The speedy, elusive Fordham moved from running back/wide receiver to starting QB this week for the Hurricanes as they defeated Lutz Steinbrenner 42-7 on Friday. He replaced Ryan O’Neill at QB during the Palmetto loss, and getting more reps in practice only fueled an offensive outburst that included 184 rushing yards.

Game balls

Friday’s top offensive stars were Fordham (365 total yards, five total TDs), Southeast High’s Latrell Peavy (145 rushing yards, three total TDs in Thursday’s 34-12 win over Bayshore) and Cardinal Mooney’s Bryce Williams (185 rushing yards, two TDs in Friday’s 22-7 win over Englewood Lemon Bay). The top defensive stars were from Manatee — Mike Collins (INT, four PBUs), Josh Betts (five tackles, fumble recovery), Brandon Dossey (eight tackles, one TFL), Chauncey Green (three TFLs, forced fumble); Palmetto — Sidney Pompey (game-changing pick-six), Reese Lyons (two forced fumbles, fumble recovery, sack), Matt Wyatt (two sacks); and Southeast — Damon Poole (four tackles, INT), Brandon Shannon (12 tackles, three TFL), Kam Green (four tackles, three TFL, one sack, one hurry), Teriq Houston (six tackles, three TFL, sack, forced fumble).

Recruit watch

Here’s how some Florida, University of South Florida, Ohio State and Michigan commits performed on Friday from around the country:

▪  Florida — Long Beach (Calif.) Poly senior QB Matt Corral, a 247Sports four-star, completed 9 of 15 passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns.

▪  USF — Okeechobee senior RB Jajuan Cherry, a 247Sports three-star, ran for 94 yards on 15 carries and had one TD.

▪  Ohio State — Seffner Armwood senior RB Brian Snead, a 247Sports four-star, scored two long touchdowns, a 69-yard run and 55-yard reception, against Tampa Jefferson on Friday.

▪  Michigan — Orlando Olympia senior QB Joe Milton, a 247Sports four-star, struggled against Apopka Wekiva’s pass rush and completed 10 of 25 passes for 85 yards.

This story was originally published September 23, 2017 at 3:07 PM with the headline "Braden River-Venice top Week 6 football games. Manatee, Palmetto, Southeast roll in wins."