Venice (Florida) football breaks out against Northwestern

Indians roll up 600 yards and 63 points to capture their first win of 2023

MIAMI, FLORIDA – Venice, a team with state championship aspirations, entered Saturday night’s battle with Northwestern at Traz Powell Stadium in desperate need of a victory after dropping its first two contests by allowing 30+ points to both opponents.

If anything the Indian defense regressed a little further Saturday, but nothing was going to stop the Venice offense from carrying the squad to its first victory of 2023, a 63-46 shootout win over the host Bulls.

Venice (1-2) gained 600 yards on offense and the two teams combined to pile up 1,140 yards as the offensive action went end to end, resembling a ping pong match more than a football game for much of the night.

Northwestern (0-2) struck first with an opening touchdown, but Venice responded with four consecutive touchdowns to establish a lead it never surrendered. The Bulls rallied to back within eight, at 28-20, just prior to halftime, but the Indians surged back out to big lead in the third quarter and were never threatened again.

Jamarice Wilder scored the first and last touchdowns of the night for Venice and rushed for four in the contest, as he grounded out 150 yards on 22 carries.

Venice gets touchdowns from six different players

Although Wilder had a big night by scoring four times, he was far from the only Indian to celebrate in the end zone. Six different Venice players scored a touchdown in the contest.

Quarterback Jadyn Glasser completed touchdown passes to CJ Lewis, Griffin Gisotti and Ryan Matulevich, while Ryan Downes and Dorien Jones each rushed for scores.

Deylen Platt’s two interceptions make a difference

Although the stats from the contest are not going to please the Venice defensive coaches, the play of Deylen Platt made a big difference for the Indians.

He intercepted two passes, including one deep in Northwestern territory that setup Venice’s fourth touchdown of the game, a 3-yard run by Wilder. The second halted a promising drive by the Bulls.

Calvin Russell shines off the Northwestern bench

Despite the struggles of its defense, Northwestern may have found an important ingredient for its offense in quarterback Calvin Russell.

Russell, who came on for starter Leon Strawder, passed for two touchdowns and rushed for two more scores for the Bulls.