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THE COMMERCE (GA.) NEWS
WEDNESDAY,
SEPTEMBER 16,2009
East Jackson Football
East Jackson Softball
Eagles Go 3-0 With Win Over Patriots
By Brandon Reed
The East Jackson Eagles wrote more school history
Friday night, as the football program went 3-0 for
the first time in history with a 28-14 victory over the
Oglethorpe County Patriots.
The Eagles travel to Union County to face the
Panthers, who are 1-1 on the season and are coming
off a close 31-30 loss to North Oconee last Friday.
Kickoff is at 7:30.
•• COMING UP ••
Friday @ Union Co.
Eagles vs. Panthers
- 7:30 p.m. kickoff
C.J. Allen (24) scored twice against Oglethorpe County Friday night.
Photo by Brandon Reed
Oglethorpe County
At first, it looked like
things might not go the
Eagles’ way on Friday
night. Just under three
minutes into the game,
the Patriots drew first
blood with a touchdown and extra point to go up 7-0.
East Jackson answered with just over four minutes
remaining in the first quarter, as Deon Sewell scored,
noting the game at 7-7.
The Eagles had a misstep with just before the quarter
ended, as they fumbled a punt. The Patriots recovered
to keep possession, but less than 30 seconds into the
second quarter, the Eagles stuffed a fake field goal
attempt and got the ball back.
With just over five minutes left in the half, Oglethorpe
County regained lead with their second touchdown,
but with just over a minute remaining in the half, Tyler
Collins scored for the Eagles, making it 14-14.
Thirty seconds later, East Jackson’s Drew Hunter
intercepted a Patriots pass, giving the Eagles the ball
on Oglethorpe County’s 36-yard line.
Eight seconds later, Cody Gibbs scored on a 31-yard
pass from Williams, giving the Eagles a 21-14 lead
going into halftime.
East Jackson went up 28-14 with just over five min
utes remaining in the third quarter on a C.J. Allen
touchdown run.
The Eagle defense made a big stop on fourth down
on the Eagle 19-yard line late in the game and kept the
Patriots out of the end zone to preserve a 28-14 win.
Numbers Game
Quarterback Evan Williamson completed three of
five passes for 47 yards, including one touchdown.
Allen led the ground attack with 131 yards on 14
snaps and scored once, while Sewell carried the ball
13 times for 57 yards. Chas Malcolm gained 23, yards,
Michael Stephens 37 yards and a TD, and Cody Gibbs
had a 31-yard touchdown reception.
Time Runs Out On Tigers, lions Win 21-14
Commerce quarterback Cody Streetman is stopped on the six-yard line last
Friday with seconds left in the game. The Tigers fell to Franklin County 21-14.
Photo by Justin Poole
Commerce Football
By Justin Poole
Time ran out for
Commerce last Friday
night, just as the Tigers
appeared to be on the
verge of tying Franklin
County in the final sec
onds.
The Tigers started a
comeback late in the
third quarter after falling
behind 21-0.
A second
Commerce
touchdown
two min
utes into
the fourth quarter put the
Tigers into position to tie
the game, and Commerce
pushed to to the six-yard
line as the clock ran out
and Franklin County took
the win, 21-14.
This week Commerce
is off and will spend
time trying to eliminate
errors.
“We are going to contin
ue to try and improve and
rest up a bit before the
rest of the season,’’ coach
Steve Savage said.
The Tigers return to
the field on Sept. 25, as
they host Lincoln County
in the final non-region
match-up of the season.
Commerce begins region
play on Oct. 2.
Franklin County
“We were right there,
ready to come back, but
came up just a little bit
short at the end,’’ Savage
said.
Franklin County scored
twice in the first half
and and scored another
touchdown six minutes
into the third quarter to
lead 21-0. The Tigers put
points on the board with
five minutes minutes left
in the third period as
Deon Brock ran in from
58 yards out and Josh
Swistak nailed the PAT.
After an apparent Lion
touchdown
was called
back on
a holding
call on the
Lions, Jon
Cash provided the Tigers
with another opening with
an interception. Brock
put the Tigers within a
touchdown on a 60-yard
sprint, cutting the lead to
21-14.
With 2:10 left in the
game, Commerce blocked
a Franklin County field
goal attempt from about
the four-yard line and
recovered the ball on
Commerce’s 28-yard line.
The Tigers ran 11 plays
and reached the Lion six-
yard line before the clock
ran out.
“It was a tremendous
effort by our team to
block a field goal and run
11 plays in less than two
minutes for an opportu
nity to win the game,’’
said Savage. “Our team
didn’t give up. They came
back from the first half
where things went against
them ... and made a tre
mendous comeback.’’
With :16 left on the
clock quarterback Cody
Streetman went back to
pass, opted to run, and
went down at the six.
“[This game] tells me
what I knew all along,’’
Savage said. “This team
has got some grit about
them.’’
By The Numbers
Brock led the Tigers
with 159 yards and two
TDs. Josh Streetman
rushed for 49yards
while Jon Cash added
27 yards. Quarterback
Cody Streetman moved
the ball 11 yards on the
ground and completed
eight of 16 passes for
70 yards, including a
22-yard toss to Cash,
Continued on Page 2B
Lady Eagles
Record First
Region Win
The Lady Eagles soft-
ball team picked up its
first region win of the year
last Thursday, defeating
Oglethorpe County.
They’ll travel to Rabun
County Friday for a 5:55
game.
The Lady Eagles started
their week off with a game
against the Lady Titans at
North Oconee. East Jackson
came away with its second
region loss, falling 9-1.
Individual statistics were
not available at press time.
Next up was the Oglethorpe
County game, which result
ed in a 9-6 victory for East
Jackson’s first region win of
the year.
Individual statistics were
not available at press time.
The Lady Eagles played in a
Continued on Page 2B
Commerce Softball
Commerce
Moves To 2-2
By Justin Poole
Commerce Lady Tigers
advanced to 2-2 in region
play last week as the fell to
Prince Avenue on Tuesday,
but picked up a win on
Thursday over Athens
Christian.
The Lady Tigers are 5-8
overall and were sched
uled to play on Tuesday
at Hebron. That game was
rained out.
Today (Wednesday),
Commerce is scheduled to
host Banks County, weather
permitting, at 5:45 p.m.
Commerce does have
a rain date scheduled for
Thursday to make up games.
Go online to www.main-
streetnewssports.com for
updates.
Prince Avenue
The Lady Tigers suffered
their second region loss at
Continued on Page 21
Commerce Cross Country
Tigers Take
Second At
Rabun Gap
By Justin Poole
The Commerce Tigers
made a second-place show
ing for the start of the cross
country season at Rabun
Gap last Thursday.
Commerce boys’ team
finished second by a score
of 28-29 against Rabun Gap
while the Lady Tigers did
not have enough runners
competing to qualify for a
team score, according to
coach Mark Hale.
The girls who competed
finished within seconds of
each other as Kacee Cooper
led the Lady Tigers with
a 37:42 finish followed by
Sierra Martinez (37:43) and
Jessica Bagwell (37:48).
The boys’ team finished
second with four runners
in the top ten. Andrew
Brookshire led the Tigers
Continued on Page 2B
•• COMING UP -
- Friday Night Break
- Tigers in off week