Week 10 football preview: North Port-Braden River

NORTH PORT (3-5 OVERALL, 0-4 DISTRICT) AT BRADEN RIVER (4-1, 3-1)

When: 7 p.m. Thursday

The scoop: This is the Class 7A-District 11 finale for both teams. The game was moved up a day to Thursday because of Braden River’s unique finish to the regular season, which was caused by early-season weather woes. After this game, the Pirates play Sarasota Booker on Monday, St. Petersburg next Friday and possibly the second half of a weather-postponed game with Clearwater next Saturday. To win the district title, Braden River needs to win and hope for Palmetto to spring an upset at Venice on Friday. Since losing to Venice, the Pirates have outscored district foes 127-45. The lone close game was a 31-24 victory at Palmetto on Oct. 6. This should be more like the previous two games for the Pirates, when they outscored Sarasota and Lakewood Ranch by a combined 96-21. Knowledge McDaniel picked up a second 200-yard receiving game last week and has 831 receiving yards with eight touchdowns this season. South Carolina-committed running back Deshaun Fenwick (586 yards, 82 carries, seven TDs) and Cam White (402 rushing yards, 42 carries, three TDs) supply the ground game. North Port’s top players are QB Devon Allen, WR/CB C.K. Poulos, RB/S Javon Howell and RB/LB Brian Taylor.

Jason Dill’s prediction: Braden River 49, North Port 7

This story was originally published October 25, 2017 at 4:27 PM with the headline "Week 10 football preview: North Port-Braden River."