COMMERCE — With the new playoff format for Class A, eight teams get a first round bye and Commerce, which finished second in Region 8-A, earned one of those spots in Class A Public with a No. 7 seeding in the final power rankings.
The Tigers (8-2) will open their 2016 playoffs at Ray Lamb Stadium on Friday night, an 8 p.m. kickoff, against No. 10 seed Taylor County in the second round. The Vikings (10-1) advanced with a 34-31 win over Trion last week in the first round.
The last two seasons have seen Commerce knocking on the door of its first state championship game appearance since winning it all in 2000, making back-to-back semifinal appearances. The Tigers have a tough draw this time around, but they are also among the leaders in Class A in both offense and defense.
AccessWDUN sports and Friday Game Night reporter Jeff Hart caught up with Commerce coach Michael Brown to talk about the bracket, seeding, how the Tigers plan to stop a Taylor County offense that features one of the best running backs in the state, and how they plan to keep their own high-powered offense rolling.
QUESTION: Your quadrant of the Class A Public bracket looks extremely tough with four of the top seven offenses in all of Class A in that area. How tough do you think your road will be, beginning with Taylor County?
ANSWER: I don’t think there is an easy bracket in the playoffs at all this year. You’ve got seven to 10 teams in our bracket capable of making a run at the title. We’re going to have play our best to be able to advance. Class A Public has some really, really good teams.
Q: Y'all did receive a bye this year, but do you feel like you should have been seeded higher? Last year you were a No. 9 seed, and you advanced to the semifinals for a second consecutive season.
A: There’s a formula they use to determine the power rankings, and I don’t know anyone involved that thinks it’s a perfect formula. It is what it is. Two years ago we were a four or five seed, last year we were a nine, but, really, you just have to take care of business every week you’re around and just kind of let the chips fall where they may. We don’t really give a lot of thought about the seedings. We just try to go out every week and do what we need to do to win no matter who it is.
Q: You finished the season with two big wins over teams that were both in the top 16 in Class A Private (Athens Academy and George Walton). How big were those wins in helping with the seeding and building momentum for the playoffs?
A: They were big for us because we were playing top notch opponents, and you want to be playing well against the good teams at the end of the season. I think that showed that we’ve been getting better on a weekly basis, and, again, that’s what you want this time of year -- to be improving.
Q: Like you said, you were playing very well at the end of the regular season. How will the bye week help or hurt you going into Friday’s game against a good Taylor County team that already has a playoff game under its belt?
A: Well we had a bye week at the end of the season each of the last two years, and I think we were able to benefit from that in being able to let our bodies heal and get mentally and emotionally focused for the playoffs. I think it will benefit us again. We had really good practices last week, and so far this week, and the kids look really sharp right now.
Q: There are some great offenses in Class A. Taylor County is the No. 2 offense (464 points, 42.1 points per game) and you are the No. 7 offense (403, 40.3 ppg) in Class A. You have really been rolling the past few weeks behind (sophomore) quarterback Lane Sorrow and running back Cole Chancey and a good offensive line, averaging 48.2 ppg over your last five games. Are you peaking right now or can the offense get even better?
A: One thing that we know is that we will rise and fall with the play of our offensive line, and those guys have gotten better each week and they’re playing really physical football right now, executing well, and not busting assignments. Lane has really gotten comfortable with his role at quarterback in the offense and is making the right calls and playing fast. We hope that we’re playing our best football right now, and I believe we are. You want to be peaking at this time of the year and not early in the season. I think we’re right where we need to be, but I think we have our work cut out for us on Friday.
Q: With Taylor County putting up some big numbers on offense -- the Vikings have scored 40 or more points five times in 11 games behind Lyn-J Dixon (1,698 yards rushing, third in state all classifications) -- how good will your defense need to be? (The Tigers are the second-best defense among Class A Public teams allowing just 120 points, 12.0 ppg).
A: Just looking at Taylor County, we’re going to have to have our best game of the season. They are the most balanced team we have seen this year. They run and throw equally well and have a lot of schemes that can put a defense in a bind. They are not like any of the other teams we have faced this year. There is no one we've played that we can look at on film and say they do this or that. They are really different. Their running back is as good as anybody in the state. There is a reason why they are up high in scoring. They are very, very good.
Q: Will you have to try some different things on defense to slow down Dixon and their offense?
A: We will just have to do our jobs. Something we preach to our kids is to do your job and not someone else’s job and do it with speed and great effort. We will be Commerce and do what we we do, which is give a lot of effort and be physical. We’re going to have to do a good job of tackling. A missed tackle against these guys is a touchdown.
Q: The last two years you were as close as you could get to the Georgia Dome without actually being there, making the semifinals both years. Is it important for the program to take that next step and get to the Dome?
A: Obviously everyone wants to get to the Dome. But we’re not ready to focus on that. We have to get ready for the next game, which is Taylor County. We just have to take it one at a time. If we look past Friday night we’ll be sitting home next week so we really can’t think about that right now.
