Venice High extends Braden River High's playoff pain

For the second year in a row, the Braden River High football team’s collective heart was broken at Venice High’s Powell-Davis Stadium Nov. 17.

Another senior class walked off the field with a loss to the Indians, this time a 41-32 game that was closer than the final score indicated.

The Pirates losing streak at Venice was extended to four. Braden River finished 10-2.

The Pirates seniors said goodbye to their football family after the loss.

“We're all brothers out here," senior center Brendan Bengtsson said through tears. "We sweat, we bleed, we cry. We do everything together.

"If it wasn't for this team, I don't know where I'd be. I love these boys."

Pirates coach Curt Bradley said he used his postgame talk to thank the seniors for changing the tide of the program and keeping it going. He said he was proud of everything they had accomplished, and will miss having them around next season.

Bradley said the Braden River-Venice rivalry has made him and his staff better coaches, and hopes that they have challenged the Venice staff in the same way. Someone would be hard-pressed to find a series of six games better than the ones these team have played the last three years, he added.

That doesn’t make the losses sting any less. This one, a game in which the Pirates were ahead 12 points in the third quarter, is perhaps the most painful of all. They had a chance: With three minutes to go and Venice leading 34-32, the Indians faced a fourth and three at midfield. The Indians chose to go for it, putting their fate in the hands of their two senior superstars, quarterback Bryce Carpenter and wide receiver Jaivon Heiligh, both verbally committed to Coastal Carolina University.

A stop would have given the Pirates prime position to win. Instead, Heiligh snatched a deflected pass out of midair and took it to the end zone. With little time remaining, the touchdown effectively cemented Venice's win.

“We’ll take a long week next week and then reboot the system,” Bradley said about when he will begin thinking about next season. “We have areas to improve. I have areas to improve as a coach. Our staff has to continue to improve.

“We’re still young. We graduate some significant seniors, but we have a lot (of talent) coming back that we are excited about.”

That includes quarterback Bryan Gagg, wide receiver Knowledge McDaniel, running back Camaron White and tight end Travis Tobey on offense, and defensive end Zac Smith, cornerback Mark Davis and linebacker Tyler Pawelkoski on defense. All seven players will be seniors next fall. The Pirates have the talent to be a contender again, and with the state’s new transfer policy, it’s possible they will add more of it during the offseason.

No matter what happens, it will hurt to lose players like the University of Missouri-bound Tyrone Collins, University of Florida-bound Taylor Upshaw and University of South Carolina-bound Deshaun Fenwick. It will hurt just as much to lose players like Bengtsson and linebacker Chase Knopf, players less heralded nationally but who were leaders in the locker room, encouraging teammates when things looked dire and raising them up when things were rolling.