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CHS Football
Tigers Break Into Win Column, Defeat Bulldogs
Commerce Hosts Franklin Co. Friday
By Brandon Reed
The Commerce Tigers
were hungry for a win
after a defeat at the hands
of the Jefferson Dragons
last week.
The first team on the
menu was Morgan County
a team the Tigers had beat
en three times in six prior
games.
Commerce can now
boast a 4-3 lead in that
series after a commanding
33-23 victory Friday night
at Morgan County.
The win improves
Commerce’s record to 1-1,
with their first region game
still two weeks away.
Up next for the Tigers
is a home game against
Franklin County which
handed the Tigers a 34-14
loss on the road last year.
Historically the Tigers
hold a commanding edge
over Franklin County.
Winning 16 of 22 games.
In their last meeting in
Commerce in 2006, the
Tigers won 14-7.
Franklin County comes
into Friday night’s game
with a 1-1 overall record,
having defeated White
County on Aug. 29,
and losing last week to
Gainesville.
Kickoff Friday night is at
8 p.m. Check www.main-
streetnewssports.com
for post-game scores and
reports on Friday night,
and throughout the week
end.
Dog Beating
The night started off on
what appeared to be an
even keel for both teams.
Morgan County drew
first blood, scoring a
touchdown on an 18-yard
run. But nine plays later,
Tiger quarterback Phillip
Edwards ran in the first
Commerce TD of the night
to tie the score.
The big play of the night
for the Tigers came in
the second quarter, when
Edwards connected with
Javon Womack on an
80-yard pass play for a
touchdown.
The play joins four other
80-yard passes in the top
ten longest pass plays
section of the Commerce
football history book.
It also gave Commerce
a 13-7 lead after a failed
PAT.
The Tigers would add
to their lead when Deon
Orsborne scored on
a 46-yard run, moving
Commerce ahead 19-7.
Morgan County hit a
field goal to move a little
closer, 19-10, before the
end of the half.
Commerce got off to
a big start in the second
half, scoring its fourth
touchdown when Edwards
scored on a three-yard run.
The nail in the Bulldogs
coffin came in the fourth
quarter, when Womack
broke away from Morgan
County’s defenders and
made a 67-yard touchdown
run to put the Tigers ahead
33-10.
But that didn’t mean
Commerce could rest. The
Bulldogs put on a scrappy
show, scoring two more
times before the end of
the game, to make the final
Continued on Page 3B
Javon Womack, pictured here from an earlier game, led the Tigers in rushing
with 73 yards on six carries. Womack also scored a touchdown on an 80-yard
play from Phillip Edwards. Photo by Brandon Reed
EJCHS Football
Eagles Still Looking For 1st Win, Travel To Oglethorpe FrL
East Jackson quarterback Evan Williamson (14) tosses the ball at the last
second before being taken down by a Fannin County defender.
Photo by Brandon Reed
By Brandon Reed
The East Jackson Eagles continue
to search for their first win of 2008.
Following last week’s 20-6 home opener
loss to Fannin County, the Eagles will
travel to Oglethorpe County Friday to
face the Patriots. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.
The Patriots come into Friday night
with an 0-1 region record following last
Friday’s loss to North Oconee. They
are 1-1 overall, having defeated Athens
Christian in their opener.
Friday night may be the best opportu
nity so far in the season for the Eagles to
get a mark in the win column. Last year,
the Patriots went 0-4 in the region, and
1-9 overall.
Over the first two games, the Eagles
scored 33 points to Oglethorpe’s 25,
averaging 16.5 points a game. However,
the Eagles have also allowed more points
than the Patriots, 28-44.
Check www.mainstreetnewssports.com
for post-game scores and reports on
Friday night, and throughout the week
end.
Fannin County
The Rebels took charge of Friday night’s
game early, and moved ahead 14-0 by the
time the second quarter was only three
minutes old.
The Eagles finally broke into the end
zone with eight seconds left in the first
half, as quarterback Evan Williamson ran
five yards for the TD. East Jackson failed
on an attempted two-point conversion,
leaving the score 14-6 at the half.
The Eagles had their chances. One
of them came when junior Wade Mize
sacked the Fannin County quarterback.
The Eagles recovered the resulting fum
ble, and put together a drive that had
them on the Rebels 20-yard line with 2:20
left in the third quarter.
The drive died moments later on a
Fannin County interception. But the
Rebels fumbled again, with sophomore
Jermain Davis recovering at the 25 yard
line, giving East Jackson another scor
ing opportunity going into the fourth
quarter.
But the opportunity didn’t last long.
Just 40 seconds into the fourth quarter,
the Rebels intercepted a pass on the 15
yard line.
With just under two minutes to go,
the Rebels scored again, but failed on
the PAT, leaving the score 20-6. An East
Jackson fumble gave Fannin County the
ball with just over one minute remaining,
and they were content to run the clock
out to pick up the win.
By The Numbers
Zach Gilbert led the Eagles in rushing
with 12 carries for 42 yards, and had
three receptions for 11 yards; Robbie
Continued on Page 3B
CHS Softball
Lady Tigers Win First Two Region Games, Host Hebron Thurs.
By Brandon Reed
Commerce softball coach
Pam Canup said from the
beginning of the 2008 sea
son that the focus would
be on getting the key ele
ments of her team in place
in time for the start of
region play.
It appears that they were
able to do that, as the Lady
Tigers won their first two
region match-ups of the
season, defeating Towns
County 9-1 and Social
Circle 5-4.
Commerce was sched
uled to travel to Prince
Avenue Christian on
Tuesday. Results of that
game were unavailable at
press time. Check www.
mainstreetnewssports.
com for score updates
throughout the week.
Next up for the Lady
Tigers is a home stand
against the Lady Lions
of Hebron Christian
Academy next Tuesday at
4:45 p.m.
Towns County
Sept. 2 marked the sec
ond meeting of the season
between Commerce and
Towns County. In their pre
vious meeting, during the
Commerce Invitational on
Aug. 23, the Lady Tigers
picked up their second win
of the season.
So it came as no surprise
when Commerce repeated
that performance, winning
handily 9-1 in five innings.
C.J. Wilkes and Kelsey
Beck each had two hits.
Brooklynn Stinchcomb,
Ashley Lord and Haiden
Nunn recorded one hit
each and Wilkes and Beck
each recorded 3 RBIs.
Stinchcomb recorded
the win from the mound,
giving up one hit while
striking out nine.
Social Circle
The Lady Tigers trav
eled to Social Circle for
their second region game
of the year. It looked like
Commerce would come
home with a loss as
Commerce trailed 4-1 going
into the fourth. But the
Lady Tigers began fighting
back, scoring in the fourth,
the fifth, and then twice
Continued on Page 3B
Commerce coach Pam Canup (pictured center) talks to her players on the
mound during a recent game. Photo by Justin Poole