VENICE (SNN-TV) – The Venice Indians play host tomorrow night to the Riverview Rams at Powell-Davis Stadium in our Friday Football Fever Game of the Week. This semifinal match up consists of two teams that are no strangers to one another, having met once already this season, in Venice with the Indians winning 41-7.
While both teams have evolved since that point in late October, since the loss the Rams have rattled off two wins, including a road playoff 31-7 victory of Lutz Steinbrenner last week. While the last meeting didn’t go as planned, Riverview senior offensive and defensive lineman Walter Leise says he always saw the silver lining.
“First time they played us, I’m glad they humbled us. I feel like we’re going to bounce back, take it easy, learn from our experience and I think it’s going to be a good game.”
And when you turn the page and look at Venice, they also rattle off multiple win after the first Riverview match up, including last week’s dominant home outing against Plant City. But Indians Head Coach John Peacock says despite their regular season success, this a whole new ballgame.
“We don’t get any points from the last game. We’re starting this game 0-0. This is the second round of the playoffs, it doesn’t really matter what happened in the regular season.”
One bright spot for Venice in their victory last week over the Raiders, was the connection between Seniors Ryan Browne and Jayshon Platt, the 3-year starting receiver Platt, hauled in 6 catches for 146 yards and 3 touchdowns. But even Platt concurs that the week’s prior to this game, essentially mean nothing.
“I feel like Riverview is a really good team. We got lucky the first time. I feel like this week we got to come out and execute. They’re a really good team.”
Entering the underdog, isn’t a position Rams head coach Josh Smithers takes lightly, but yet – the goal remains the same, survive and advance, even if that goal is substantially harder to obtain.
“You know, we feel like we can make some improvements on some little things that can maybe make a difference. It’s a tough match up. They’re like a tri-county all-star team down there. You can’t make mistakes.”
Kickoff from Powell-Davis Stadium is set for tomorrow night at 7:30.
