Now 1-3, they Tigers have a week off before starting their region schedule.
That first region pairing will come on the road Oct. 1 against the Athens Christian Eagles, who are coming off a Friday night non-region loss to Banks County. They have only one victory as they open region play Friday night against Social Circle.
“(We) start off with a tough opponent,” said Commerce head football coach Steve Savage. “I haven’t seen them yet, but I know that they have some skilled players. We’re going to have to play our very best to play with this outfit.”
Washington-Wilkes
From the start, it looked like the Commerce Tigers would again be playing catch-up against the Washington-Wilkes Tigers Friday night. The other Tigers drew first blood, putting the first seven points on the board with a 35-yard touchdown run.
But Commerce answered with a 70-yard touchdown run by Cody Streetman on the next play from scrimmage to tie the game 7-7.
Washington-Wilkes re-took the lead before the end of the half on a seven-play, 78-yard drive to make it 14-7.
Commerce closed the gap in the second quarter with a field goal from 33 yards out by Josh Swistak to make it a 14-10 game.
The Tigers got their first lead of the night a little later in the second, as Streetman again scored on a 10-yard run. It took Commerce eight plays and 74 yards to make it a 17-14 game, and the Tigers never trailed again.
Marquavius Little intercepted a W-W pass at the Tiger 45 and returned it to the four-yard line. Streetman ran it in from two yards out to make it a 24-14 Commerce advantage at the half.
Five plays into the second half, Commerce scored again, with Streetman running the ball in from two yards out to make it a 31-14 game.
Washington-Wilkes still had some life left, as it scored from 17 yards out to make it 31-21.
Streetman added his fifth and final touchdown from 12 yards out to cap a five-play, 64-yard drive and make it a 38-21 advantage.
Washington-Wilkes would score twice more in the third quarter, once on a 10-yard run and once on a two-yard run. The second extra point attempt was blocked, however, making it a four-point game, 38-34, going into the fourth quarter.
The Commerce defense stiffened, keeping Washington-Wilkes out of the end zone over the next 12 minutes. Another Swistak field goal capping an eight play, 39-yard drive made it 41-34.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Commerce News.
