The wait is finally over Class 7A finalists, who meet Saturday for title

VENICE

After years of trying, Venice High and St. Johns Bartram Trail have finally kicked open the door to a state championship game.

Now they stand face to face with each other.

Since its inception in 2011, Class 7A has been dominated by the usual suspects. Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas has won it four times, while Palm Beach Gardens Dwyer and Manatee High have each won it once. Those three programs have combined to win 17 state championships.

When the Indians and Bears meet 3 p.m. Saturday at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, they will be in relatively uncharted waters. Venice’s lone trip to a title game came in 2000 — the same year football was introduced to Bartram Trail, which is playing in its first state final.

Each coach had a hunch this was coming.

“I think that every year,” Bears coach Darrell Sutherland said with a laugh. “I’m optimistic.”

The only head football coach in Bartram Trail history, Sutherland guided the Bears to the Class 5A state semifinal in 2007 and the Class 6A state semifinal in 2013, only to lose both games in overtime. The heartbreak ended last week against tradition-rich Tampa Plant, as the Bears jumped to a 28-7 lead at halftime and held on for a 34-29 victory.

“It was a great battle,” Sutherland said.

A rugged regular-season schedule helped steel the Bears (11-3) for such a run. Their three losses came to Cartersville, Georgia, Cocoa, and St. Augustine. Ranked 12th in Georgia by MaxPreps, Cartersville won 11 games and reached the second round of the state’s Class 4A playoffs. Cocoa, a yearly powerhouse, lost Thursday’s Class 4A state title game to Jacksonville Raines, and St. Augustine was a state semifinalist in Class 6A.

“That was intentional. We always play the hardest schedule we can,” said Sutherland, who has led the Bears to 133 wins. “As a coach, all I ever ask of the Lord is just one more week with these guys.”

The Indians (13-1) have been a playoff team every year under head coach John Peacock, who took over in 2007, but routinely ran into tough competition in the postseason. Since 2010, the Indians have been eliminated by Manatee, Seffner Armwood and Braden River, teams that either reached the state semifinals or played for a championship after getting past the Indians.

“We had to play some tough teams,” Peacock said. “But we have a great group of seniors who kept working hard.”

After falling to Aquinas in last year’s state semifinal, Peacock did his best to prepare the Indians for a possible rematch by scheduling a game against IMG Academy’s power-packed Blue Team, ranked second in the nation by MaxPreps. And when Hurricane Irma altered Venice’s schedule, Peacock was able to shoehorn in a game against Fort Myers Dunbar, which made the second round of the playoffs in Class 5A.

It worked: The Indians knocked off Aquinas, the three-time defending state champions in Class 7A, last week.

Peacock, however, was quick to mention how the Indians have to re-focus after slaying the Raiders. Not long after last Friday’s semifinal, his senior quarterback agreed.

“I don’t think you can end it better in Powell-Davis Stadium than this,” Bryce Carpenter said. “But we definitely know we’ve got to get it done next week.”

At long last, Bartram Trail and Venice will finally get a chance to get it done Saturday.