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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