Another painful loss for Pirates against Venice

I'm running out of words to describe Braden River High's football losses to Venice.

I could say the most recent, a 24-21 road defeat on Sept. 28, was heartbreaking, or disappointing, or agonizing, for the Pirates, but I've said them all before.

Braden River coach Curt Bradley was running out of things to say, too. When asked why the rival Indians seem to give the Pirates fits, Bradley shrugged.

"Two good teams," he said, then repeating himself twice more while shaking his head.

His players had similar visceral reactions as the clock hit zero. Hands covering faces, or eyes staring at nothing in particular. It didn't take a behavioral psychologist to see these kids were dejected. 

This is the Pirates' sixth loss in the last three seasons, including the playoffs, and five have come against the Indians. This one was more of a defensive battle than previous meetings, but the formula was similar to last November's playoff loss.

The Pirates go up early, carry the lead into halftime, then fail to capitalize on opportunities in the second half while Venice finds its footing. This year, Braden River led as late as 7:12 remaining in the fourth quarter, when senior quarterback Bryan Gagg found junior tight end Travis Tobey for a 10-yard touchdown, making the score 21-17 Pirates.

The problem? It should have been a much bigger lead.

Junior kicker Brett Thoma missed a field goal on the final play of the first quarter and, after a 105-minute lightning delay, had another one blocked with 1:17 to go in the third thanks to a breakdown in protection. Bradley called the delay “the longest icing of the kicker in history," but the alternative was going for it on 4th and 12.  

"Hindsight is 20/20,” Bradley said. “It was a tough decision."

When the kick was blocked, I felt the air instantaneously sucked out of the Braden River sideline. The Pirates came out of the locker room following the delay fired up and focused. After the block, they were deflated. It wasn’t hard to see where the game was headed, not when you’ve seen similar stories play out again and again. To its credit, the offense did battle back once Venice scored on the ensuing possession, leading to aforementioned Gagg-Tobey end zone connection, before Venice senior running back Brandon Gregory churned out a backbreaking 53-yard touchdown two plays later.

It didn’t help that the Pirates lost junior running back Brian Battie, to a leg injury late in the first half. Bradley had no update on his status postgame. Would the game have had a different outcome if he had finished the game? Maybe. His injury allowed the Indians to key on senior wideout Knowledge McDaniel, limiting him to catching screen passes.

The loss forces Braden River to win out if it wants to comfortably make the Florida High School Athletic Association playoffs, which it likely will. Its next four opponents — Booker High, Sarasota High, Lakewood Ranch High and North Port High — have a combined record of 5-17. The only potential stumble is the final regular season game against St. Petersburg High (4-2), which gave the Pirates a bit of a scare last year before Braden River pulled away to win 38-14.

But does any of that matter? Making the playoffs isn’t an accomplishment anymore for Braden River. It’s an expectation. Bradley said the Pirates will likely get to play Venice again in November, and he’s right. That game will determine if this season is a disappointment or not. This game proved the Pirates have the talent to hang with the defending-champion Indians this year. Next time, they have to prove they can take control.

Even if Battie is back for the next matchup, McDaniel won’t be, unless there’s yet another twist in his battle for full FHSAA eligibility. That makes life all the more tough for Braden River. It’s a shame, because the program has been one of the best in the state these past few years with only second-round exits to show for it. If the Pirates want to be considered “elite” instead of merely “great,” they’ll have to get the best of the Indians one of these days.

Until that happens, I’ll be reading a thesaurus, thinking of new ways to tell the Braden River-Venice story.