Commerce On The Road To Morgan Co. Friday

Last year, Morgan County went undefeated in Region 8A-AA, and 8-4 overall.

In six previous meetings, Commerce has won three and the Bulldogs have won three. Commerce lost 31-3 in its last meeting with Morgan County, at Madison in 2005.

Commerce defeated the Bulldogs in their first meeting, 35-14, in 2000, and won the next two games 27-10 and 10-3. Morgan County won 35-7 in 2003, and 41-27 in 2004.

Vs. Jefferson

It got ugly early in Commerce, as the Dragons seemed to be able to stall the Tiger offense at every turn, and moved the ball at will in the first quarter.

Jefferson drew first blood with a touchdown with just under five minutes remaining in the first, then ran in a second score just seconds into the second quarter to move ahead 14-0.

A quarterback keeper a little later in the second gave Jefferson a 21-0 lead. The Tigers offense began to find its footing late in the quarter, moved into scoring position as the first half ended.

Commerce Scores

The Tigers finally got on the board in the third quarter when quarterback Phillip Edwards broke into the end zone with just under four and a half minutes remaining. But just two plays later, the Dragons answered with another touchdown on a quarterback keeper to move ahead 28-7. With just under a minute and a half left in the quarter, Jefferson scored its last touchdown of the night to move ahead 35-7.

The Tigers came out swinging in the fourth quarter, and Edwards again broke into the endzone with 6:19 left on the clock for Commerce’s second touchdown.

Jon Cash led the Tigers in rushing with 118 yards on 22 carries. Javon Womack had 10 carries for 27 yards; Colton Brown had eight carries for 13 yards, and Deon Orsborne had three carries for 19 yards.

The Tigers rushed 65 times for 242 yards. They didn’t attempt a single pass, but Edwards gained 65 yards on 22 carries.

The Tigers had nine possessions, crossed the midfield five times, amassed 18 first downs, 16 rushing and two on penalties. They were twice penalized for a total of 10 yards.