COMMERCE — Commerce football flexed its ground game muscles in the early going on Friday night to help seal a 35-19 defeat of West Hall in the two teams' season opener in Commerce.
The Tigers (1-0) rolled to a 28-0 first half lead as Caleb Mason notched two rushing touchdowns and Dylan Deaton and Nate Ray each added one score.
The Spartans (0-1) responded with a 2-yard run from Solomon Riley to make it 28-7 at the half and then pulled within 28-13 in the fourth quarter on a 5-yard run from Michael Thompson (a 2-point attempt failed). But Deaton's second touchdown of the night put the contest out of reach at 35-13.
Thompson finished with two touchdowns for West Hall, which will return home for a showdown with old rival Johnson in the "Battle of Oakwood" next week.
Commerce travels to Athens Christian next week for its first Region 8-A contest of the season.
