Manatee And Venice Meet In 5A District Title Game Friday Night

MANATEE-- Two teams with two players heading to ”Gator Nation“ will meet Friday night for the 5A district title in Venice. The Manatee Hurricanes and Venice Indians, both heading to the post-season, battle for home field advantage and first place in the district.

Earlier this week Manatee standout running back Mike Blakely announced he will be going to the University of Florida next year. Gator’s head coach Urban Meyer was at the Hurricanes game last week against Riverview at the Ram Bowl. On Monday, Venice linebacker Clay Burton said he will now head to UF instead of Notre Dame to join his brother Trey who was recruited by Meyer last season. Clay Burton had originally verbally committed to the ”Fighting Irish“ in September, but changed his mind when Urban Meyer called Sunday night to offer him a scholarship.

Manatee Faces Venice For 5A District Title Friday

Blakely and Burton will need to put aside thoughts of their collegiate future and take care of the business at hand Friday night -- winning the 5A district. Manatee is undefeated at 7-0 and 2-0 in district. The ÔCanes dominated Riverview last week 35-6 as, Blakely scored two touchdowns rushing and one passing in an offensive showcase that had to impress Meyer, who watched from the Manatee sideline. Venice (6-2, 3-0) comes off a closer than expected 14-9 district victory over Sarasota, after a blowout loss to powerhouse Charlotte the previous week.

The game will be a match up of two strong running games with Manatee’s Blakely and Venice’s Danny Dillard getting the bulk of the carries. Dillard is also an outstanding receiver and one of Indians quarterback Grant Flessner’s go-to guys along with Donte Mazon. ”Canes“ signal caller Cord Sandberg has Quenton Bundrage in his wide-receiver arsenal, who no defense this year has been able to effectively stop.

Both schools have lit up the scoreboard this season. Manatee has scored 264 points while Venice has tallied 239. Defenses have been equally stingy for each team. The ”Canes“ have given up just 106 points and the Indians 123.

Venice Coach John Peacock and his staff will have the task of trying to contain Mike Blakely while simultaneously attempting to keep quarterback Cord Sandberg from running out of the pocket and picking up big yardage on his own. In addition to passing for an average of 216 yards per game, Sandberg is an effective rusher and has scored five touchdowns on the ground this season. Blakely is averaging nearly 7.5 yards per carry with 15 touchdowns for Manatee.

Hurricanes Coach Joe Kinnan just needs to keep the ship running smoothly, as it has so far this season. Last December’s disappointing loss to Plant (Tampa) in the championship game at the Citrus Bowl still stings, and this team wants a chance to get back and win it all for Manatee County.

The Bradenton Times will have complete coverage of this game and Braden River’s 3A district game against Booker at Tornado Alley. The Pirates (2-5, 1-1) face a must win against the Tornadoes (4-3, 2-1) to keep alive in the district. A live broadcast of the Braden River vs. Booker game can be heard by clicking here.