Braden River’s woes against Venice continue. Indians make it five straight wins in series

Bryan Gagg stood in the pocket, ready to unleash another key pass to sustain a potential game-winning drive for Braden River High.

The pocket, though, collapsed in seconds and Gagg was hit on his blindside before hitting the turf for a sack.

Consequently, the Pirates (3-2 overall, 1-1 Class 7A-District 11) fell 24-21 to rival Venice on Friday night.

It was the Indians’ fifth straight victory in the series.

“We just couldn’t get it done,” Braden River head coach Curt Bradley said. “Credit to them. We just couldn’t get it done.”

A banged-up Braden River team that didn’t see Cam White suit up took a bigger dent when standout running back Brian Battie suffered a leg injury late in the first half.

Battie was on crutches throughout the third quarter until a lightning delay that lasted nearly two hours forced the teams to retreat to their respective locker rooms.

Braden River held a 14-10 lead before the delay with 1:17 remaining in the third quarter.

Afterward, Venice seized the momentum with a blocked field goal and subsequent quick drive that resulted in a Zack Sessa 28-yard touchdown catch.

The Pirates retook the lead through Gagg’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Travis Tobey with 7:12 left in the fourth quarter.

But Venice answered with a two-play drive capped by Brandon Gregory’s 53-yard touchdown run.

Gagg was intercepted on the next series, but Braden River’s defense held firm to give the Pirates one last shot with 3:51 remaining.

“We have a chance to win the football game in the fourth quarter with our offense, I’ll take that seven days a week,” Bradley said.

Working their way to Venice’s 40-yard line, the Pirates faced a fourth-and-6 as the clock ticked down to the final minute. That’s when Gagg was sacked and Venice ran the clock out.

The bitter rivalry between the programs heated up in 2015 when Braden River defeated Venice twice en route to reaching the Class 7A state semifinals. That season is the furthest Braden River has advanced to date.

Venice won the next four meetings, which included eliminating Braden River in the 2016 and 2017 playoffs. The Indians won the 7A state championship last season.

This past offseason, the programs became intertwined with off-the-field controversies. The Florida High School Athletic Association found Braden River held illegal spring practices and fined the Pirates $40,000 — with $38,400 put in abeyance — and canceled their spring game and placed the program on probation.

Venice turned Braden River into the FHSAA for the violation. On the same day the FHSAA levied its spring football ruling, Bradley penned a letter to Venice head coach John Peacock about him liking a racially insensitive tweet by a player off last year’s state championship team directed at Bradley, who stated Peacock had crossed the line in his letter.

Peacock was fired the following week for a culmination of incidents during his tenure, and he blasted Bradley after his dismissal.

Peacock later apologized to Bradley via a public statement and was rehired shortly thereafter. He was suspended for the first three games of the 2018 season.

Bradley also was suspended for the first three games of the season after the Sarasota County School District alerted Manatee County of its investigation into use of a college recruiting Hudl account.

An anonymous letter alleging several violations against Braden River’s program also began circulating in the summer, before finding its way to the FHSAA’s office in Gainesville.

In addition to the Hudl violation, the FHSAA determined impermissible benefits from a booster club member were given to two Braden River players during the 2017 season, including current star Knowledge McDaniel. The senior was ruled ineligible for 365 days in early August.

After missing two games, McDaniel was reinstated for three non-district games on Sept. 6 at the Section 3 Appeals Committee hearing. That later was amended to the last six regular-season games without the playoffs through a mediation held in the FHSAA’s office.

Hours after that ruling, Section 3 committee chairman Grady Irvin, a Tampa-area lawyer, wrote a letter to FHSAA executive director George Tomyn imploring him to use his power to amend the ruling further to include the playoffs should Braden River qualify.

Irvin’s letter also stated the only reason the appeals committee voted the way it did was due to fear Tomyn and the FHSAA’s Board of Directors would overturn their idea to include the playoffs for McDaniel this season.