Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4B -- THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2007
—Tiger Football
Lady Tiger Basketball
Cont. from Page 1B
Sometimes, when you come back
off losing two games, you don’t
have a good attitude, but they’ve
practiced hard, practiced well, got
after it and had a good frame of
mind."
“The challenge for us is the same
as always," Savage said. “No pen
alties, no turnovers and we’ll be in
the game. If we do either of those,
we won’t be in the game."
That means a big turnaround
from the Jefferson game, where
the Tigers had eight turnovers that
led to a 42-7 rout for their first loss
to the Dragons in 12 years. On the
season, Commerce has given up
the ball 13 times on fumbles and
seven on interceptions — or two
turnovers a game. They’re averag
ing 40 yards of penalties a game.
On the other side of the coin, the
Tigers take the ball away an aver
age of 1.5 times a game, and their
opponents average 49 yards in
penalties.
The Tigers will board the bus at
1:00 for the three-hour drive.
The Numbers This Season
T igers
Opponents
200
First downs
174
401-2,736
Rushing attJyds.
393-2,183
6.8
Avg.
5.5
166-96-7
comp-att.-int.
153-87-7
1,290
Passing yds.
1,349
4,026
Total off.
3,532
26-13
Fumbles-lost
21-8
18-23.4
Punting
20-34.9
45-401
Penalties
63-491
42 of 79
3rd down conv
41 of 91
11 of 19
4th down conv
14 of 25
RUSHING
player
att.
yds
avg
. TD
Haynes
178
1,454
8.2
25
Cash
52
417
8.0
2
Allen
1
-6
-6
0
Brown
113
568
5.0
6
Edwards
18
168
9.3
1
Womack
23
190
8.3
2
Barnes
2
-44
-22
0
Osborne
1
4
4
1
TOTALS
401
2,736
6.8
37
Opponents
394
2,183
5.5
36
PASSING
player
c/att.
yds
TD
INT
Haynes
96/164 1,290
8
7
Allen
0/2
0
0
0
TOTALS
96/166 1,290
8
0
Opponents
87/153 1,349
11
7
RECEIVING
player
rec.
yds
TD
Cooke
66
782
3
Cash
13
171
2
Womack
12
260
2
Edwards
3
61
1
Crawford
1
6
0
Askey
1
10
0
TOTALS
96
1,290
8
OPPONENTS 96
1,296
11
PUNTING
player
Punts
Total
AVG.
Streetman
12
255
21.3
Haynes
4
110
27.5
Adams
2
57
28.5
TOTALS
18
422
23.4
OPPONENTS 20
698
34.9
DEFENSE
player Tac. Asst.
Sacks Fum. rec. INT
M. Adams 13 32
2.0
3
0
T. Adams 1
1
0
0
0
Allen 1
1
0
1
0
Anderson 0
0
0
1
0
Austin 11
38
3.0
2
0
Arostegui 2
0
0
0
0
Askey 0
8
0
0
0
Barnes 0
1
0
0
0
Billings 5
7
0
0
0
Bonds 1
1
0
0
0
Bowen 15 10
2.0
0
0
Brown 3
2
0
2
0
Cash 5
8
0
1
0
Cooke 2
3
0
0
0
Crawford 0
1
0
0
0
Davis 1
0
0
0
0
Drinkard 21
20
0
0
1
Edwards 1
0
0
0
0
Flint 3
6
0
0
0
Glasper 22
59
1.0
0
0
Hanley 17
25
1.0
0
0
Harmon 1
0
0
0
0
Haynes 9
3
0
3
0
Hill 1
5
0
0
0
Jones 1
1
1.5
0
0
Lowe 2
2
0
0
0
McClain 4
6
0
0
0
Maloch 36 35
0
0
0
Minish 3
7
1.5
0
0
Orsborne 13 14
0
1
3
Patterson 0
1
0
0
0
Peek 2
3
0
0
0
Randolph 0
1
0
0
0
Sanders 2
1
0
0
0
Savage 13 15
0
0
0
Sears 32 29
0
2
1
Sims, Trey 0
1
0
0
0
Spikes 1
0
0
0
0
Streetman 44 58
0
0
2
Westmoreland
5
11
.5
0
0
Wilson 1
3
0
0
0
Womack 0
4
0
2
0
Totals 294 423
12.5
18
7
FOR INFORMATION
ABOUT
CANCER,
INFORMATION ON
SERVICES AND PROGRAMS,
CALL THE
AMERICAN
CANCER
SOCIETY
24 HOURS A DAY 7 DAYS A
WEEK
1-800-227-2345
OR ON THE INTERNET AT
WWW.CANCER.ORG
It's Back To Square 1 For New Coach, Lady Tigers
Senior Felicia Grier handles the ball during
a passing drill. The Lady Tigers will begin play
under new coach Eddie
Banks County Nov. 30.
McCurley against
It’s back to square one for the
second time in three years for the
Commerce Lady Tiger basketball
team.
The Tigers started fall practice
last week under new head coach
Eddie McCurley, who succeeds
Kerri Lord, who took the pro
gram’s reigns for two seasons
after 20-year coach Don Watkins
retired.
“They’re adjusting to me and
I’m trying to evaluate what they
can do," said McCurley in a tele
phone interview last Friday.
If his current tenure with the
Lady Tigers follows his past suc
cesses, the Commerce girls’ pro
gram is in for some interesting
times.
The head coach at Hart County
for 13 years, McCurley led Hart
County to the Class AAA title
in 1989 and 1992, after which
he went to Anderson College
to coach women’s basketball
for three years. The last two his
team went to the National Junior
College tournament, reaching the
Final Four once. When Anderson
College transitioned to a four-year
institution, McCurley moved on
to Gardiner Webb College where
he helped it transition from a
Division I college to a Division
II team.
He got out of coaching in 2002
and spent five years in the com
mercial insurance business. He
made the decision to get back
into public education, in part to
become qualified for retirement
“and to do something fun; coach
ing has always been fun for me,"
he says.
Nothing is more fun than
winning at what you love,
and McCurley said he thinks
Commerce is ideally suited for
success.
“This team is athletic. They’re
just a little behind in some of the
basic basketball skills," he says.
“Three years from now, I’d hope
to see a team that plays strong
defense, that likes to run and
press and that is fundamentally
sound ."
McCurley had a couple of
weeks during the summer to
work with the team, and he’s into
his second week of fall practice
— not a lot of time to institute a
new system before the Nov. 30
opener in the CHS gym against
Banks County.
There are 18 players compris
ing the varsity and JV squads.
“We made some cuts and tried
to make it a situation where it
meant something to be on the
team," he says.
The Lady Tigers will have six
seniors, two juniors, one fresh
man and nine sophomores.
“We’ve got a large sopho
more and a large senior class,"
McCurley points out. “That’s a
good situation. The seniors —
they can be a talented group.
We’re really working hard with
the underclassmen, getting them
adjusted to the system. We’re try
ing to instill some type of fun
damentals. We’re really starting
from square one."
McCurley says he expects team
leadership to come from Brittany
Sewell, a senior who is a two-year
starter, and from Felicia Grier,
his center.
“She seems to understand the
work ethic it takes. She’s going
to be a natural leader for us,"
he says, adding, “There are sev
eral others who are certainly
capable. We could start five
seniors, or maybe a mixture
of seniors and underclassmen.
We’re working on finding the
chemistry."
“I’ve been very pleased as far
as their attitude," he continued. “I
think they really want to turn the
program around. It’s been slow-
going; they’ve had to re-learn
some things and there’s been
frustration. Hopefully, they’ll see
the light at the end of the tun
nel and a reward for their hard
work."
— East Jackson Eagles End First Season With 5-5 Mark
Cont. from Page 1B
The momentum that the Eagles
hoped to carry from Gilbert’s
score didn’t last long, however,
as the Wolverines answered with
their fourth touchdown of the
night with just over eight seconds
left in the half, putting the Eagles
down 28-13 going into halftime.
Fighting Back
When the teams returned to
the field following East Jackson’s
homecoming festivities at half
time, the Wolverines picked up
right where they’d left off. Just
over five minutes into the half,
West Forsyth scored its fifth
touchdown of the night. The
Eagles blocked the PAT, but the
Wolverines had a commanding
21-point lead.
West Forsyth would score once
more, this time in the fourth quar
ter, with just under seven minutes
remaining in the game. The extra
point attempt again failed, but the
Wolverines widened their lead to
41-13.
The Eagles didn’t quit. With just
over two minutes left, a reception
and 64-yard run by Gilbert gave
East Jackson their third and final
touchdown of the night. A suc-
cessful two-point conversion by
Standrick Stephens left the score
at 41-21.
East Jackson recovered an on-
side kick on the next play, taking
control of the ball late. But their
late drive came up short, and at
the final buzzer, West Forsyth
went home with a 20-point vic
tory.
Stephens led the team in rush
es, with 13 carries for 49 yards.
Gilbert led the team in recep
tions, with two for 71 yards.
Evan Williamson passed for 119
yards, with eight completions
on 16 attempts. Zac Pearson
had three punts on the night,
with an average of 25 yards per
punt.
READ THEN RECYCLE
RECYCLE THIS
NEWSPAPER
Newspapers and maga
zines can be recycled
at Keep Jackson County
Beautiful's recycling bins
behind First GA Banking
Company — in the Lanier
Tech parking lot, South Elm
Street, Commerce.
A
THANK YOU,
Citizens of
Ward 5
For re-electing me to represent
you as your Councilman for the
next four years. I pledge to you
to be your voice and to continue
an open, honest and progressive City Government.
The only local GM dealer offering Saturday Service
COLD WEATHER IS COMING!
OIL CHANGE, COOLANT
SERVICE & BATTERY CHECK
79 95
NEED
PRINTING?
CALL
706-367-5233
We can have a “City on the Right Track” if we
work together. Please contact me if you have
concerns or needs.
Thanks again,
Richard Massey
Ward 5, Councilman
Lri-I^^^HBBB ^^bibb ^^bibb ^^bbb ^^bbb ^^bbb ^^^Hhkkl
For most vehicles
Hwy. 441 in Commerce
706-335-3196
800-798-7435
www.wayneneal.com
SERVICE HOURS:
M-F 7:30-6:00 • Sat. 8:00-4:00
To honor the heroic worfc and personal sacrifice of those who put
their lives on the line to serve and protect us each and everyday,
we are proud to offer The Heroes Account. This account is
available to members of the armed forces, both enlisted and
reservists, and first responders - firemen, iaw enforcement
and emergency service personnel.
This account was established to show our appreciation for your
dedicated service and to offer you unique benefits to meet certain
needs you and your family may have. For more information, call
or stop by any of our banking centers today.
(706)335-3151
Community
Bank & Trust
An frf.ial I Im.jnflIgnore
v™*.03fphanl;ing. i n;f
Mcrrhrr FEHC