Manatee loses to Venice, must wait until Sunday for playoff fate
All Manatee can do now is wait.
The Hurricanes lost 42-14 at home to Venice on Friday night, meaning they must wait until Sunday morning to see if they qualified for an at-large playoff berth. But they seem confident they’ve earned a spot after entering the week ranked sixth among Class 8A-Region 2 teams.
“No, sir,” Hurricanes running back Josh Booker said when asked if he’ll be nervous.
Beating Venice (9-1), which has won consecutive games in the series after losing eight in a row, would’ve wrapped up a playoff bid. But a win for Manatee (5-3) seemed unlikely since the Indians had outscored opponents by an average of 41.7 points per game during their four-game winning streak entering the game.
Friday’s outcome wasn’t in doubt for long.
Indians quarterback Bryce Carpenter ran for touchdowns of 4 yards and 49 yards in the first quarter and completed touchdown passes of 8 yards and 1 yard in the second quarter for a 28-0 lead going into halftime. The Indians outgained the Hurricanes 349-68 in the first half.
The Indians started the mercy-rule running clock with 2:26 left in the third quarter.
“Very inconsistent, like a young and inexperienced team,” Hurricanes coach Yusuf Shakir said. “We’ve got to grow up, though. Next week is the playoffs. We’ve got to get it going.”
Hurricanes quarterback Ryan O’Neill completed 14 of 23 passes for 167 yards and one touchdown, and Booker rushed 15 times for 63 yards and one touchdown. Hurricanes wide receiver Javarius Pollock added seven receptions for 91 yards.
“We can’t make mistakes,” Booker said. “We come out fast one drive and then come out slow the next drive. We’ve got to be consistent on everything we do. If we don’t, that’s the result.”
The Hurricanes were without starting quarterback Keyon Fordham, an excellent athlete who has now missed three consecutive games because of an injury. Shakir described Fordham as a game-time decision Friday due to being “banged up” and that he expects him to play next week.
The Hurricanes will find out Sunday whether they’ve done enough to continue playing.
“We belong in the playoffs because we’re more like a brotherhood,” Booker said. “We came a long way with a new coach, starting to connect with each other. Hard work, it all pays off.”
This story was originally published November 3, 2017 at 10:46 PM with the headline "Manatee loses to Venice, must wait until Sunday for playoff fate."