The Southwest Florida Area Game of the Week will feature two of the top ranked programs, as the Venice Indians travel down I-75 to take on the Bishop Verot Vikings.
Renovations have been made at Viking Stadium, on the campus of Bishop Verot High School where the school’s athletic director Greg Coleman stated “It’s different here” in an interview with the News-Press out of Fort Myers.
On the other hand, The Venice Indians have built a winning environment since head coach John Peacock took over in the 2007 season, where he has led the Indians to three state championships as well as five state title game appearances.
The programs maybe separated by a total of 69 miles, but the historic schools haven’t met head-to-head since 1998 where the Indians took home a 21-9 win.
Venice (2-0) has had a high-flying start on the offensive end where they’re averaging 55.5 points per game through the first two games. Coming off a 48-42 overtime win over Miami Northwestern in their last game, as well as a 63-40 victory over Tampa Bay Tech in the season opener.
Venice has been led by senior quarterback Jayce Nixon (Northern Iowa commit) where he has completed nearly 60% of his passes (22-of-37) 359 yards, five touchdowns and has thrown one interception on the young season. Senior running back Jamarice Wilder (James Madison commit) has also been on a tear through the first two games where he’s coming off an explosive 314 rushing yard performance and found the end zone twice in the win. Also keep an eye on senior wide receiver Winston Watkins Jr. who leads the team in receptions (14) and receiving yards (195) through the team’s first two games of the season.
Bishop Verot (2-0) has a load of D-1 prospects on their end where they are led by senior quarterback Carter Smith (Michigan commit) who has completed 66% of his passes (22-of-33), 266 yards and four touchdown passes so far on the season. The Vikings also have a pair of stud running backs where they are led by junior running back Deshon Jenkins who has 12 carries for 175 yards as well as 6 catches for 41 yards. Sophomore running back Ira Dale can also make some noise for the Vikings offense out of the backfield where he is averaging 18 yards per carry (8 carries, 144 yards, and 2 touchdowns).
The Vikings are coming off a 54-12 thumping win over Tampa Catholic in their last game back on August 30 where they got key contributions on the defensive end from junior linebacker Dwyer Camron who finished with a game-high 7 tackles. Look for junior two-way player Marquis Young and senior defensive back James Little IV to be impact players to watch on the defensive end as they’ll likely draw the assignments of keeping Watkins as well as 3-star senior wide receiver Ryan Matulevich intact.
Score Prediction: Venice 35, Bishop Verot 31
