Football: Venice cruises past Lely, 48-20

The Lely football team had its opportunities, but always came a few

inches short in its 48-20 loss to Venice in the Class 5A Region 3

quarterfinals.

The Trojans (5-6) had their chances at several big plays, but

their offense could never capitalize. Lely recovered a fumble it

couldn't advance. Linebacker Grant Reid intercepted a pass deep in

the red zone and took it to the Lely 41, but Venice forced the

Trojans to punt.

Dropped passes also hurt Lely. The Trojans had two big-play

opportunities, but a pass sailed behind a wide-open Danny Huffor

and another bounced off Dan Border's shoulder pads.

Lely did come alive in the fourth quarter, scoring all three of

its touchdowns. Ward Tanner ran for a touchdown and threw for

another.

Lely coach Chris Metzger still had a lot to be proud of, taking

a team that went winless in 2002 to the regional playoffs.

"That's a great football team," Metzger said of Venice (8-3).

"Our kids kept fighting. The defense played a great game for three

quarters. But we had a lot of mental mistakes and put defense in a

tough situation."

The Trojan defensive line was effective in holding down Venice's

running game for most of the first half, so the Indians went to the

air.

Venice quarterback Scott Lane went 3-of-3 for 44 yards on

Venice's first scoring drive, including an 18-yard strike to tight

end Brad Allen on third and 7 and a 15-yard pass to Marcus Platt on

fourth and 5. Matt Fira rumbled in from three yards for the first

score. The Indians' ground game improved as the game progressed and

fullback Jimmy Lapinska dove in from four yards.

The Lely offense struggled in the first half. Tanner completed

his first two passes, but couldn't connect on his next nine.

The Trojans had one opportunity to score at the end of the half,

as the defense recovered a Venice fumble at the Indians' 27 with

3.5 seconds left in the half. Tanner connected with Alce, but the

running back fell at the 16.

Platt led Venice in rushing with 81 yards, while Fira added 68.

Fritz Jacques led Lely in rushing with 58 yards. Tanner went 11 of

29 for 135 yards, two interceptions and a touchdown.

Lely: 0 - 0 - 0 - 20 -- 20

Venice: 7 - 7 - 7 - 27 -- 48

Scoring

V-- Fira 3 run (Staudenmaier kick)

V-- Lapinska 4 run (Staudenmaier kick)

V-- M. Platt (Staudenmaier kick)

V-- Charles 3 run (kick failed)

V-- Lapinska 28 interception return (Staudenmaier kick)

L-- Tanner 6 run (kick failed)

L-- Border 7 pass from Tanner (run failed)

V-- Fira 55 kickoff return (Staudenmaier kick)

V-- Vasilevskiy 5 run (Staudenmaier kick)

L-- Tanner 2 run (Alce run)