Making History
The 2008 Venice Indians have joined an elite group of teams in the schools history. With a 28-14 victory over Booker Friday night, these Indians finished their season a perfect 10-0. Only three other teams have accomplished that in the 57-year history of Venice High Football. The others being 1979, 1980, and 2000, the 2000 team went 15-0 and won the state championship. Coach Butler, Venice’s O-Line coach, was a member of the ’79 team.
Perhaps what is so impressive is that all teams in the football program went undefeated. Venice High Football is 25-0 for the 2008 season, and the future looks bright. Venice teams have outscored their opponents by a combined 821-222 points this year. No other team in Sarasota County has gone undefeated since Venice did it in 2000.
The Indians accomplished such feats by their high-powered offense, and staunch defense. Leading rusher Dri Archer, has had 145 touches for 1,482 yards and 17 TD’s. While his partner in crime, Trey Burton has rushed for 919 yards with 24TD’s and has passed for another 1,400 yards and 12 TD’s. Perhaps what gets overlooked the most is just how good the Venice D has been this season. Its hard to notice when you’re scoring on almost every offensive possession. For the regular season the defense allowed an average of 12.7 points per game. They held their opponents to 199.1 yards of offense per game, while only allowing 70.9 yards of total offense in the 2nd half. Our swarming defense has forced 22 turnovers ( +10 turnover margin), and has sacked the quarterback 18 times this season, with 10 coming from junior defensive end, Brandon Wilkinson. The defense is led by senior linebacker Ethan Mix who has 109 total tackles, 70 solo; senior linebacker Jamie Owen with 89 total tackles, 50 of which are solo; and senior defensive lineman Ben Steele with 93 total tackles, 54 solo.
The hard work and long hours that started at the end of last season has certainly paid off. However, there will be no rest for the Indians. The season starts tonight, Venice goes into the play-offs 0-0 and looking for revenge from last year against Cape Coral. Coach Peacock has been heard saying many times that he has waited for this game for 11 months and 3 weeks. Look for the Indians to seek out some long awaited revenge against the Seahawks.
The 2008 Venice Indians have joined an elite group of teams in the schools history. With a 28-14 victory over Booker Friday night, these Indians finished their season a perfect 10-0. Only three other teams have accomplished that in the 57-year history of Venice High Football. The others being 1979, 1980, and 2000, the 2000 team went 15-0 and won the state championship. Coach Butler, Venice’s O-Line coach, was a member of the ’79 team.
Perhaps what is so impressive is that all teams in the football program went undefeated. Venice High Football is 25-0 for the 2008 season, and the future looks bright. Venice teams have outscored their opponents by a combined 821-222 points this year. No other team in Sarasota County has gone undefeated since Venice did it in 2000.
The Indians accomplished such feats by their high-powered offense, and staunch defense. Leading rusher Dri Archer, has had 145 touches for 1,482 yards and 17 TD’s. While his partner in crime, Trey Burton has rushed for 919 yards with 24TD’s and has passed for another 1,400 yards and 12 TD’s. Perhaps what gets overlooked the most is just how good the Venice D has been this season. Its hard to notice when you’re scoring on almost every offensive possession. For the regular season the defense allowed an average of 12.7 points per game. They held their opponents to 199.1 yards of offense per game, while only allowing 70.9 yards of total offense in the 2nd half. Our swarming defense has forced 22 turnovers ( +10 turnover margin), and has sacked the quarterback 18 times this season, with 10 coming from junior defensive end, Brandon Wilkinson. The defense is led by senior linebacker Ethan Mix who has 109 total tackles, 70 solo; senior linebacker Jamie Owen with 89 total tackles, 50 of which are solo; and senior defensive lineman Ben Steele with 93 total tackles, 54 solo.
The hard work and long hours that started at the end of last season has certainly paid off. However, there will be no rest for the Indians. The season starts tonight, Venice goes into the play-offs 0-0 and looking for revenge from last year against Cape Coral. Coach Peacock has been heard saying many times that he has waited for this game for 11 months and 3 weeks. Look for the Indians to seek out some long awaited revenge against the Seahawks.
