ELBERTON, Ga. — They weren't looking to make a statement. But Commerce's dominating 49-21 win over Elbert County on Friday night at the Granite Bowl certainly said a lot.
The Tigers piled up a season-high 535 yards rushing, led by Jaiden Daniels, who ran for 288 yards and four scores. Jacari Huff had 124 yards and one touchdown, and Tysean Wiggins added 100 yards and one touchdown for Commerce.
Many expected the showdown of contrasting styles to go down to the wire. But when Daniels broke loose for a 76-yard touchdown run on the game's opening play, all bets were off.
"That play really got the entire team excited," senior offensive tackle Joey Duncan said. "Our mindset was to come in here and play our best football. When we play Commerce football, we're successful. I think you saw that tonight."
Commerce coach Mark Hollars could not argue.
"Execute was the key word," Hollars said. "The guys had a great week of preparation. They believed in themselves and believed in our plan. We're a smash-mouth football team, and I'm really proud of how the kids played tonight."
The win put the Tigers (8-1, 2-0 Region 8-A Division 1) into first place all alone with one game left. They will play host to Rabun County next week with a chance to claim the title outright.
"We'll just try to get ready for next week, and we'll go up there and play our brand of football," Hollars said.
The Tigers started about as well as you could ask. And Daniels' big run was just the beginning.
The Commerce defense then forced a quick Elbert County punt, and three plays later, Daniels went 84 yards for his second touchdown in his first three touches and a 14-0 lead just over three minutes in.
The Blue Devils offense spurted early as quarterback Javyn Hickman was just 2-for-6 to start the game. They went to the run and finally broke through. Jacari Barnett popped runs of 31, 19, and 10 yards to set up a 19-yard scoring run by Eli Harris to cut the lead to 14-7.
But the Blue Devils (7-2, 1-1 Region 8-A Division 1) would not find the end zone again until the fourth quarter with a running clock.
The Tigers needed just four plays to push the lead to 21-7 as Daniels scored again on a 13-yard TD run following a 46-yard run by Wiggins. After trading punts, Commerce put together its longest drive of the night, with Wiggins capping an 11-play, 7:59 drive with a 3-yard TD run for a 28-7 lead midway through the second quarter.
The Blue Devils looked to be getting back in the game, driving to the Commerce 6. But Barnett fumbled at the 3 with the Tigers' Mac Mullis recovering. Three plays later, Huff outran the Elbert defense for a 90-yard touchdown run with just 23 seconds left in the half and a 35-7 lead they took to the intermission.
Elbert County never recovered.
"We came out wanting to dominate them on the line, and when we got going, we didn't want to stop. We wanted to keep the pedal to the medal, and I don't think we stopped all night," Duncan said. "One of the best games we've played this season."
The Blue Devils scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns on a 7-yard scoring run by Barnett and a 45-yard touchdown pass from Brayden Scarborough to DK Winn.
But those were sandwiched around a 90-yard kickoff return from Daniels.
Elbert County finished 15-of-29 passing for 155 yards, mainly from Scarborough and was held to just 79 yards rushing for the game.
"Our defense bent a few times but did not break. Just a total team effort," Hollars said. "But we got one more and some unfinished business still."
