VENICE − If there is one aspect the Venice High football team learned from last year’s loss to Lakeland High in the state championship game it is attention to detail.
Venice failed to do some little things correctly and it cost them in a 21-14 loss to the Dreadnaughts at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.
“There was just confirmation on a lot of things we already knew,” Venice coach John Peacock said. “One is attention to detail, things that you do a thousand times. And then you get into a game like that and don’t do them right.”
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At 8 p.m. Saturday, Venice will be going for its fourth state championship and second in three seasons when it takes on the Dreadnaughts in the Class 4 Suburban final at Ken Riley Field at Bragg Memorial Stadium on the campus of Florida A&M University in Tallahassee.
Some of the areas that hurt Venice in last year’s title game were the depth of receiving routes, offensive linemen coming off a double-team block, and playing the correct gap on defense.
“Things that you kinda overlook sometimes,” Peacock said. “Those things add up.”
On the final play of the second quarter, Lakeland scored a touchdown and added the tying PAT kick on a fourth-and-goal from the Venice 8-yard line. Omari Mixon appeared to be running off the field, but stopped before the sideline and was wide open when he caught a pass from Zachary Pleuss.
Midway in the fourth quarter on a fourth-and-6 from the Dreadnaughts’ 15-yard line, Venice receiver Keyon Sears came up inches short on what was intended to be a double-reverse pass.
Lakeland took over and ran out the final 7 minutes, 12 seconds of regulation time.
“Fourth quarter down by a touchdown and going into score and then giving up a touchdown on the last play of a half when the guy is uncovered,” Peacock said. “The play before that we ran a hitch. It was supposed to be five yards and it was run eight yards, so it was short-hopped to the receiver. If you do that play right, you get the first down.
“But it’s plays like that you do 100 times, every day in practice. And then you get into the game and you don’t do that correctly, it’ll hurt you.”
The finer points and details were not only emphasized this week leading up to Saturday’s rematch with Lakeland, they were stressed all season.
“Oh yeah, everything has to be important,” Peacock said. “Every little thing has to be important to do correctly, the best you can do. That’s what we’ve been focusing on.”
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In preparing for the rematch with the Dreadnaughts, Peacock slashed his play-calling sheet.
Venice will focus on the plays it runs best.
“We don’t have a huge call sheet for the game. We have a limited number of plays. But we’ve been trying to run them right,” Peacock said.
Venice has averaged 52.3 points and has not punted in four playoff games. In 14 games this season, it is averaging 46.7 points.
“They’ve been doing a great job,” Peacock said. “We’ve come out on fire the last four weeks in the playoffs. We’re really good at some things.”
Peacock and the Venice offense are prepared to adjust on the fly if Lakeland shows a different look on defense.
“If something else arises or they show us something we haven’t seen, we can adjust from there. We can even revert back to some other game plan we’ve had, or a play we’ve used,” Peacock said.
Peacock wants Venice to play Venice football.
“I just wanted to be able to play fast and not have them think a lot,” he said. “Play hard, play fast, and play with confidence.”
2023-12-09 09:03:48
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