High School Football Game of the Week: Venice at Manatee

BRADENTON – This week, undefeated Hardee (6-0) and Palmetto (6-0) lock up in a game that could decide the District 10 5A championship, though both teams have yet to face Southeast. Venice and Manatee will also collide in a game that could decide District 10's 7A champ. Take your pick, either game will be a hot ticket. But the deep-seeded rivalry between Venice and Manatee makes this matchup our game of the week.

The Indians (6-0) have been cutting through teams like a hot knife through butter, but they have yet to face anyone of Manatee's caliber so far this season, and while their offense has been nothing short of spectacular, it remains to be seen if they can put points on the board against a team that's shut down good offenses all season long.

Grant Flessner is sacked by Chris Pomepey in last year's title game. Page Moore Photo 941-518-4600

Venice QB Grant Flessner is a dangerous double threat who's averaging 8.8 yards per carry for 521 yards rushing. In the air, he's equally lethal, having burned secondaries for over 600 yards on 42 of 63 passing that's yielded 6 TD's and only 2 picks. But on Friday night, the Junior signal caller will have one of the best, if not the best high school football defensive line in the country. The Manatee front four will be breathing down his neck on every play from scrimmage, which has a way of making even exceptional players seem rather ordinary in a hurry.

As Riverview's Tater Williams and Southeast's Myles Braxton-Johnson can attest, lining up under center and seeing Derrick Calloway, Deangelo Dawes, Marquis Dawsey, Blake Keller and company bearing down on you, is no picnic. If the nimble QB gets by Manatee's stacked defensive front, he'll be welcomed by vicious linebacker Darius White and his henchmen, Raland Brewer and Herschel Caywood. Translation: Flessner will need plenty of Advil Saturday morning – good night or bad.

There's no question that the 'Canes (4-2) will be keying on Flessner, which means he'll need big help from senior RB Danny Dillard, who's already scored 10 TD's so far this season and is well on his way to 1,000 yards rushing. Last year, Manatee's defensive line totally shut down Dillard, while putting a hurting on Flessner en route to a 24-7 victory that also decided the district title. If they can be similarly effective this week, Manatee should win in similar fashion.

The Hurricane offense didn't light the field on fire Friday night against Cypress Bay, and they're still having a ridiculously hard time getting a long snap down, but the team has nonetheless managed to find a way to move the ball even against good defenses. Coach Joe Kinnan has shown his flexibility, quickly adapting to whatever defenses have shown in their efforts to contain his innovative attack.

After driving the ball through Southeast's gut the week before, the 'Canes struggled between the tackles against a deeper Cypress Bay squad that limited RB Leon Allen to only 26 yards and Junior QB Cord Sandberg to a mere 22 yards on 13 carries. Once again their bread and butter strategy of painting the sidelines with short passes from the spread formation proved nearly impossible to beat as they took the slow and steady path to paydirt

For whatever reason, Kinnan has been reluctant to have Sandberg put much air under the ball so far this season. The 6'3 205 southpaw who threw for just under 3,000 yards passing last year, has picked up 908 so far in 2011, with much of the yardage coming after the catch thanks to speedy receivers like Anthony Lauro and Ryan Taylor who combined for 150 receiving yards last week. Sandberg has been a model of efficiency, completing 70 percent of his passes, hitting 7 TD strikes to 4 interceptions.

When you get down to brass tacks, Venice's offense, which looked so powerful putting up a combined 105 points in week one and two wins over Booker and Riverview, just isn't likely to put a lot of points on the board against Manatee's stingy defense. So they'll definitely need to contain Kinnan's offensive scheme if they're to find success. To do that, 6'6 280 lb. defensive lineman Omari Phillips will have to take away the middle, but the rest of the Indian defense will need to step it up when Sandberg and company bounce it to the outside. If Manatee wins and Palmetto gets by Hardee, expect a packed house next week at Harlee Stadium in what will undoubtedly be the biggest game between the two Manatee County rivals in years.