SARASOTA (SNN-TV) – The Riverview Rams and Palmetto Tigers meet up at Riverview High School tomorrow night in our Friday Football Fever Game of the Week. Riverview enters with the leg-up having won last year’s contest in Palmetto, 16-7. But, the Tigers and Coach Dave Marino enters this match up coming off a 15 to 6 loss to Lakewood High School last week. With a lack of practice and COVID cancellations, the Tigers have rarely seen the field this summer, but are prepared for Riverview’s talented attack.
“They’re very well coached. They have a big, strong defensive line, very well coached there. Offensive line, same, very big, strong, physical kids. We feel like we have some advantages, maybe on the back end. We have some receivers that we think maybe can do a pretty decent job.”
On top of a strong offensive and defensive front, Riverview’s offense can trend and progress in a multi-faceted fashion. Something that linebacker, Jaylen Wester is cognizant of.
“They have a good quarterback that likes to read, they do good reads. They know how to get the ball in the air too, so we got to watch for that. We got to definitely be on our heels, and stay woke out there at cornerback.”
As for the Riverview Rams, they enter this match up on the heels of a stellar defensive performance, keeping Lehigh at bay in their 14-2 victory. Head Coach Joshua Smithers says despite a top notch defensive output, the offense has to play better, because Palmetto can put up points in bunches.
‘We’re hoping that this week we can find a little more offense, because it’s going to be hard to hold Palmetto to two scores. We’ve got to be able to score points, put some points on the board to help our defense out.”
Much like Palmetto recognizes the Rams strengths, Riverview has a healthy respect for the play-makers the Tigers bring to the table. Linebacker Brady Bloom is aware Palmetto’s team speed needs to be contained.
“They’re always very fast and athletics, so, when they get out in space they’re hard to tackle in the open field. So we just got to do a good job of everyone running to the ball.”
Tomorrow’s Week 3 match up between teams with similar abilities but different paths of getting there, will be on to keep an eye on here on the Suncoast. Kickoff is set for 7:30pm from the Ram Bowl at Riverview High School.
