Commerce coach Michael Brown felt his team under-performed during a scrimmage against Franklin County earlier this month.
So the Tigers focused on the basics before their season opener against Banks County. And the extra work made a difference as Commerce (1-0) rolled to a 55-13 win over the Leopards (0-1) Friday.
“The past two weeks, we went back to the basics and worried about Commerce and fixing some problems,” Brown said. “The kids really responded well and I’m proud of the way they practiced the last couple weeks. I think that showed on Friday night.”
The game was close through the second quarter before a scoring spurt helped Commerce open up a 42-13 lead at halftime.
“It was just one of those games that was actually a tight game up until late in the second quarter,” Brown said. “We just had two or three series where we executed the offense just about as good as you can execute and had a lot of success in that five or six minute span of time and pulled away.”
Commerce will visit Hebron Christian Academy at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
PANTHERS OPEN WITH WIN
Jackson County got its first win under new head coach Brandon Worley on Friday.
The Panthers (1-0) scored 42 unanswered second-half points to top Madison County (0-2) 48-23 in their season opener.
It was the first win for Jackson County in a season opener since topping Winder-Barrow 21-10 in 2012, and its first win over Madison County in school history. Madison County had won 11 games in the series, which began in 1982. The Panthers’ 48 points are the most scored by a winning team in the series and the most since Madison County won 42-0 in the series opener in 1982.
Jackson County will visit White County at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Madison County will travel to Eastside-Covington.
