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THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017
Football summaries
Commerce 35, Athens Christian 0
Tigers use defense to take down Eagles
By Charles Phelps
On the opening drive of Friday night’s game
vs. Athens Christian, the Commerce Tigers’
defense intercepted an Eagles’ pass to set up
the first score.
Little did they know, it was the first of
five interceptions that the ball-hawkin' Tigers
would snatch in the 35-0 blowout win over the
Eagles.
The Tigers (4-0, 3-0 Region 8-A) were led
by Dajuan Wood, who rushed for 63 yards on
five carries and a touchdown. He also returned
an interception 40 yards for a touchdown.
Kyre Ware recorded two interceptions, Ty’lel
Strickland recorded one and Daniel Wilson
recorded one.
“We were able to make some plays at critical
moments,’’ head coach Michael Brown said
after the win.
Last year’s meeting between the two pro
grams was a nail-biter. Brown said he talked
to the team about getting off to a fast start, the
opposite of last year’s game.
“We came out last year against these guys
and they were ready to play and we were not,”
Brown explained, “and they punched us in the
nose. We stood there and bled for a little while
before we started fighting back.
“So, we talked to our guys about coming out
here and responding, because we knew Athens
Christian was going to be a physical football
team.”
Tyelon Brock rushed for 40 yards on five
carries and scored one touchdown. Nick Pat
rick added 32 yards and a touchdown.
Quarterback Nate Ray rushed for 20 yards
and passed for 56 yards and found Caleb
Mason on a 41-yard touchdown strike. It was
Mason’s lone catch of the game. Ware finished
with two catches for 15 yards.
After the interception to stall the Eagles’
opening drive, the Tigers needed only six plays
to go 34 yards and find the end zone. Patrick
pounded in the first touchdown from five yards
away with 6:08 left in the first quarter.
The Tigers’ second drive ended like the first,
in the end zone. The second drive last 11 plays
and covered 71 yards, ending with a Wood
1-yard plunge to move the score to 14-0 with
10:59 left in the first half.
On the third play of the ensuing Eagle drive,
Wood found the end zone on a 40-yard pick-
six. The Tiger lead was 21-0.
Two Eagle drives later, Ware snagged his
second interception of the game, setting the
offense up at their own 30-yard line. Three runs
and one incomplete pass later, the Ray-to-Ma-
son connection was in full rhythm on a 41-yard
touchdown with 47 seconds left until halftime.
The lead was 28-0.
The Tigers’ final touchdown came on the
legs of Brock who found the end zone on a
25-yard run with 4:16 left in the third quarter.
Strickland’s and Wilson’s interceptions both
came in the third quarter as well.
PICK SIX
Commerce”s DaJuan Wood returns an interception for a touchdown in the Tigers’ 35-0 region win over Athens
Christian on Friday. Photo by Charles Phelps
Jefferson 33, Gainesville 3
Passing attack leads Dragons in rout of Gainesville
CONVINCING WIN
Jefferson’s Zac Corbin tries to break a tackle in the second quarter in the
Dragons’ 33-3 win over Gainesville. Photo by Kyle Funderburk
By Kyle Funderburk
For the first time ever Friday night, Jef
ferson High School traveled up Hwy. 129
to Gainesville to play the Red Elephants at
Bobby Gruhn Field.
Then the Dragons returned home with
an emphatic 33-3 victory spearheaded by
a bend-but-not-break defense and a stellar
passing performance by Bryce Moore.
“It’s always fun to throw the ball
around,” Moore said. “They game-planned
for Colby, which I would do if I was play
ing against him, so we had to spread it out
a little bit and our receivers came in and did
their job. They’re just explosive guys. They
can get past defenders and they catch the
ball when they need to.”
Jefferson imposed their will from the
very beginning. Gainesville could only
pick up three yards on their opening pos
session and after a short punt, Jefferson
took over at their own 48-yard line. Fol
lowing a few runs by Colby Wood, Moore
found Garmon Randolph in the middle of
the field for a 16-yard touchdown.
On Gainesville's next possession, the
Red Elephants had much more success,
driving from their 38 to the Dragons 31.
But the Dragon defense hit Gainesville's
running back Chazmon Turner at the line
of scrimmage to stop him on fourth down.
Both teams punted on their ensuing pos
session and Jefferson took over on Gaines
ville’s 44-yard line early in the second
quarter. After a few plays, Moore hit a
wide-open Wood down the sideline for a
31-yard touchdown to extend the lead to
14-0.
Jefferson's next possession began at the
26-yard line but they didn’t take any time
getting downfield. Moore hit Zac Corbin
at the Red Elephant 25-yard line. Corbin
then broke one tackle and wasn’t brought
down until he crossed the five-yard line for
a 66-yard gain. Wood ran four yards up the
middle to score the Dragons third touch
down. A fumbled snap on the point after
attempt kept one point off the board so the
Dragons led 20-0.
“He [Moore] has had a great year for us,’
Jefferson coach Gene Cathcart said. “He’s
done everything we’ve asked of him, had a
great offseason, he makes us so much bet
ter. On times when they stack the box, we
want to be able to win games throwing the
football. Our receiver corps is very expe
rienced. Garmon Randolph had one of his
better games. All-in-all, it was a good night
throwing and catching.”
Their last two possessions of the first half
ended with a few disasters. Moore threw
two interceptions that halted successful
drives and Wood injured his ankle. He
wouldn’t play at all in the second half.
Jefferson’s offense went stagnant in
the third quarter and the defense allowed
Gainesville to score on a 35-yard field goal.
“We hit a little lull there where we got a
little complacent, turned it over a few times
in a row, but you have to credit Gaines
ville for some of that,” Cathcart said. “We
just got a little lethargic. I wouldn’t want
to come off two off weeks like they've
[Gainesville] had to do, I know that’s a
tough deal for them.”
“I don't know if the hangover from last
week didn't happen to us this week because
we were so excited last Friday.”
But the Dragons put the game away
midway through the fourth quarter with
an 80-yard drive. The highlights being
Moore’s 26-yard pass to Sammy Elegreet
and his six-yard run to the pylon to bring
the score to 26-3.
Donsha Gaither finished the game with
a 46-yard run down the sideline and a one-
yard run to score the game’s final touch
down to set the score at 33-3.
Jefferson opens region play this Friday
against Madison County. Wood is expected
to be fine and should play this Friday night.
“We didn't want to play him.” Cathcart
said. “He had a little tweak in his ankle and
we wanted him to rest up for our region
run. We have great doctors and trainers, but
he's such a warrior that he wanted to play.”