COMMERCE — With most of the attention focused on the firepower of both the Commerce and Taylor County offenses, the Commerce defense showed why it came in as the No. 2 unit in Class A Friday night.
The Tigers forced three turnovers and turned away the Vikings on a crucial first-and-goal possession in the third quarter to spark a 35-20, come-from-behind win at Ray Lamb Stadium in the second round of the Class A Public playoffs.
The Tigers (9-2) moved into the quarterfinals to take on Clinch County, which was a 54-12 winner over Mitchell County on Friday, next week in Homerville. The two teams will meet for the third consecutive season in the playoffs. Commerce beat the Panthers in 2014 and lost in the semifinals in 2015 with each team winning at home.
“We’re very familiar with them,” Commerce coach Michael Brown said. “They’re just another top notch team that we’ll have to be ready for. That’s a tough place to play but our guys will be ready.”
With high-profile offensive players like Taylor County’s Lyn-j Dixon and Gunnar Watson and Commerce trio Cole Chancey, Lane Sorrow, and Will Thomas, not many figured that little-known Dylan Deaton would be at the center of the action. But the sophomore defensive back owned the fourth quarter.
Deaton recovered a fumble to stop what was looking like a sure Taylor County touchdown drive, intercepted a Watson pass on the Vikings next possession, and then recovered a short Commerce kickoff with 1:14 left to seal the win.
“I thought the defense came up big for us all night. We knew we had to steal a couple of possessions from them,” Brown said. “Dylan had a big game for us.”
The Tigers defense had a huge challenge coming in trying to slow down Dixon, who came into the game as the No. 3 rusher in Georgia with over 1,700 yards. Dixon finished with just 101 yards on 21 carries, well below his nearly 170-yard per game average.
Deaton said the game plan was to stop Dixon by any means necessary.
“We keyed on him all night. He’s a great running back but this defense just plays with a lot of heart,” Dixon said. “Any way we could bring him down was our plan.”
Deaton’s fumble recovery came on a Dixon carry after the Vikings (10-2) had moved to the Commerce 36 and looked poised to reclaim the lead. The interception came on a long pass with 3:48 left after the Tigers had pushed the lead to 28-20.
“We got a good hit on (Dixon) and I just saw the ball lying there. On the interception they tried to fake me on the play but I just stayed home and (the ball) just came right to me,” Deaton said.
On the next play after the fumble recovery, Chancey blasted through a huge hole created by the offensive line for 63-yards to the Taylor County 3. Two plays later Thomas scored his second touchdown of the game to reclaim the lead.
Following the interception, the Tigers offensive line of Levi Pate, Cade Overstreet, Cade Ridley, Garrett Ash, and Carson Hall took control. Thomas ran for 10 yards, Chancey sprinted for another 10 yards, Thomas took a pitch for 16 more, and Chancey capped the 91-yard, 6-play drive with a 46-yard sprint up the middle through a gaping hole for the final score.
“We’ll go as far as our lines carry us and I thought we played very well up front on both sides,” Brown said.
The defensive line helped turn the tide in the third quarter after Taylor County took its only lead, 20-14, early in the second half. After a Chancey fumble and Vikings recovery at the Commerce 11, Matthew Flint and Cody Ridley registered sacks on consecutive plays, with Ridley’s also resulting in an intentional grounding call on Watson to force a 4th-and-45 and a Taylor County punt.
The Tigers got the ball back at their 16 and used an 11-play drive, capped by a 1-yard Chancey score, to reclaim the lead 21-20 with 1:12 left in the third quarter. The key play, however, was a 22-yard Sorrow scramble for a first down on 2nd-and-21 following a penalty.
The Tigers churned out 400 yards rushing for the game, with Chancey finishing with 210 yards and Sorrow 134 yards. Thomas added 54.
The Vikings finished with just 231 total yards, just 109 rushing. Watson had 122 yards passing.
Commerce started strong with Dylan Deaton returning the opening kickoff to the Tigers 45. The offense kept the early momentum going with Will Thomas capping a 7-play drive with a 15-yard touchdown run for a quick 7-0 lead just four minutes in.
The two teams then traded punts and the Vikings, after going three-and-out on their first possession, got rolling behind Dixon on their second possession. The junior carried six times for 29 yards, capping a 54-yard drive with a 2-yard scoring run. But the key play came on a reverse when Dixon pitched to Jackson Knight for a 13-yard gain to the Commerce 3. However, the extra point hit the upright and was no good to keep the lead with the Tigers, 7-6.
The defenses controlled the next six minutes but both offenses flashed their big-play capabilities in the final 3:50 of the half.
The Tigers got a pair of big runs from Lane Sorrow, the last one a 20-yard scamper to the Vikings 5. Sorrow capped the 9-play drive with a 4-yard touchdown run for 14-6 lead with just 54 seconds left in the half.
But Vikings’ quarterback Gunnar Watson got hot in the final minute. Watson went 4-for-4 for 72 yards and eluded three sacks on back-to-back plays and connected both times with Tre’ci Boyington on completions of 49 and 17 yards to the Commerce 1 with 15 seconds left.
The Tigers stuffed Dixon on the first attempt leaving 6 seconds left after a Taylor County timeout. Watson then executed a perfect play-action to Dixon and found a wide-open Tri-kevion Hadley in the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown pass as time expired to cut the lead to 14-13 heading into halftime.
NOTES: Since 1940, when Commerce scores 3 TDs or more, the Tigers are now 472-39-3, a .940 winning pct. ... It is the third straight quarterfinals appearance for Commerce. ... The defenses proved their mettle as the two offenses came in averaging over 82 points a game combined.
SCORING SUMMARY
Taylor Co.......0.....13....7.....0 -- 20
Commerce.....7.......7....7....14 -- 35
First Quarter
C -- Thomas 15 run (Herrera kick) 7-0, 7:56
Second Quarter
T -- Dixon 2 run (kick failed) 7-6, 8:42
C -- Sorrow 4 run (Herrera kick) 14-6, 0:54
T -- Hadley 1 pass from Watson (Paz kick) 14-13, 0:00
Third Quarter
T -- Dixon 2 run (Paz kick) 20-14, 8:09
C -- Chancey 1 run (Herrera kick) 21-20, 1:12
Fourth Quarter
C -- Thomas 3 run (Herrera kick) 28-20, 5:15
C -- Chancey 46 run (Herrera kick) 35-20, 1:17
