Q&A: Commerce's Brown talks crucial Washington-Wilkes showdown

Between them, Commerce and Washington-Wilkes have 35 region titles since 1957. However, it’s been seven years since Washington-Wilkes won the last of its 18 titles.

And shockingly, it’s been 17 years since Commerce won the last of its 17 titles. 

That should change in 2020. The two teams meet on Friday in Washington with the Region 8-A Public title within grasp for both.

Both still have a pair of games left but the winner will own the head-to-head tiebreaker. Washington-Wilkes (7-0, 3-0 Region 8-A Public) already has taken down Lincoln County (14-13 last week) so a win would essentially clinch the region title.

Commerce (7-1, 3-0 Region 8-A Public) can move one win from a title with a win over Washington-Wilkes but will also have to get past Lincoln County in next week’s season finale to claim the crown.

We reached out to Commerce head coach Michael Brown this week to see where the Tigers sit as they prepare for a hopeful title-run over the final two weeks.

QUESTION: Coach, the key matchup looks to be your offense (314, 39.2 ppg) which leads the region and is tied for 3rd in Class A Public, against the Washington-Wilkes defense (40, 5.7 ppg) which leads the region and is 4th in Class A Public. Washington-Wilkes has not allowed more than 20 points to anyone this season. Do you see this as the key for both teams?

ANSWER: Washington-Wilkes is extremely fast and athletic on defense. They are as good as anyone we have faced this season. It will be a huge challenge for our offense.

QUESTION: Their defense also seems to be ball-hawks forcing 11 turnovers, including 8 fumbles, and y'all have been prone to the fumble at times. How do you improve that aspect of the offense?

ANSWER: We had a couple of games early on with ball security issues but it is something we work on daily and has gotten much better.

QUESTION: However, Washington-Wilkes is averaging 34.2 ppg and your defense is giving up just 17.4 ppg and just 9.6 ppg in region play. How important is it that your defense makes some stops to give your offense a chance to control the clock?

ANSWER: Washington-Wilkes is as talented offensively as they are defensively. They have big play guys at several positions and are able to score a lot of points quickly. We will need a great game from both sides of the ball to be competitive.

QUESTION: Y'all have been a very good road team going 17-5 away from Tiger Stadium, including playoffs, since 2017. What is the secret to y'alls success on the road? Do you feel it is an advantage in any way for y'all this week?

ANSWER: We try to keep the routine the same every week... not much is said about playing at home vs. playing away. We have had to take some extremely long road trips in the playoffs the past few years so I think our kids have grown accustomed to playing big games on the road.

QUESTION: Y'all have played a very good non-region schedule. How will that help in this game and beyond and in the playoffs?

ANSWER: We hope that the competition has made us a better team. We made the non-region schedule out last year with that as a primary goal and I think that in many ways it has made us better.

QUESTION: Shockingly, it's been 17 years since Commerce won a region title. How important is it to win a region title, not just for the playoffs, but also for the program?

ANSWER: (Region championships) is not something we focus on. If the region was the end of our journey it may be more important, but we hope we can play a few games beyond the region.