Commerce might have the toughest draw in the second round of any Northeast Georgia team on Friday.
The No. 11 Tigers will travel to No. 6 Toombs County, hoping to advance to the Elite 8 of the Class A Division 1 playoffs with a win.
“We’re excited about our football team and believe in our football team,” Commerce coach Mark Hollars said. “We’re going to go down there and play a football game and go out there and do what we do well. It should be a heck of a high school football game.”
Indeed, it will.
The matchup features two really good, contrasting offenses, but the matchup to watch is the Tigers' defense, which has given up 22.8 points per game this season, against the Bulldogs’ offense, which has averaged almost 46 ppg.
“Toombs is an outstanding football team,” Hollars said. “They are very balanced on offense and have some explosive guys at receiver.”
Tennessee-commit wideout Sr. Lagonza Hayward, also a pretty good safety, is one of the speedsters Hollars is talking about. But he’s just part of a trio of fast guys that’ll flank the field on Friday. Mike Polke and Gavin Fletcher are two other guys who form the trifecta at receiver for the Bulldogs. And QB TJ Stanley has managed the offense efficiently, completing almost 68 percent of his passes for 1,741 yards and 20 touchdowns.
But the rushing attack has been the bread and butter, averaging 240 yards per game and led by Dabvn Wadley (103-829 yards rushing, 10 TDs), who averages eight yards per carry. However, he’s just one of five guys who have rushed over 200 yards this season for the Bulldogs.
“We’ve been able to study a lot of film,” he said. “They are literally 50-50 run-pass. They have a lot of weapons on offense, very balanced between running and passing, and just a really tough team to defend defensively.
Offensively, for the Tigers, it’s all about executing their triple-option smash-mouth offense, averaging 300 yards on the ground and featuring the triple-headed monster of Jaiden Daniels, Jacari Huff, and Tysean Wiggins.
The Tigers won their final five games with the triple-option hitting on all cylinders, averaging 44.2 ppg and more than 300 rushing yards in that span.
“We have been able to create a three-headed monster,” Hollars said. “We've got two of those three over 1,000 [yards rushing], and Jaiden is just about 1,000. Having those three makes us harder to defend. All three of them can run it well, and I say this all the time: they'd be the first to tell you our offensive line and our H back do one heck of a job opening up holes. We're nothing without those guys.”
Hollars said the difference between winning and losing in Class A is razor-thin and expects a dogfight on Friday.
“Toombs is a great team, but, you know, we're a good football team, too,” he said. “This is why you work hard all year round to be in a game like this. So, this is what you want, which is why you play the game.”
Jeff Hart contributed to this story.
CLASS A DIVISION 1
COMMERCE at TOOMBS COUNTY
Records: Tigers (8-3, No. 11); Bulldogs (9-1, No. 6)
Last week: Commerce beat Bremen, 35-28; Toombs County beat Southwest Macon, 62-8
Where: Booster Stadium (The Pit), Lyons
Radio: WJJC 95.1 FM/1270 AM
Time: 7:30 p.m.
The Statisticals: The Bulldogs finished 2nd in Region 3-A D1 behind Savannah Christian. Commerce finished 2nd in 8-A D1. After a 2-3 start in 2024, the Tigers won their final five games as their triple-option got rolling behind Jaiden Daniels, Tysean Wiggins, and Jacari Huff. They averaged 44.2 ppg and more than 300 yards rushing/game over that span. The Bulldogs are coming off an Elite 8 run in 2023, but last week marked the first time since 1999-2000 that they had won 1st round games in consecutive seasons. Despite being the lower seed, the Tigers hold a slight edge in terms of schedule strength. The Tigers' opponents went 50-56, while the Bulldogs' opponents were just 39-53 on the season. Commerce played eight teams that advanced to the playoffs compared to just 6 for the Bulldogs.
What to watch for: The Commerce offense vs. the Bulldogs defense. With Daniels, Wiggins, and Huff, Commerce is averaging 300 yards/game on the ground. The Tigers have averaged 37.6 ppg during their 6-game win streak. The Bulldogs are 4th in Class A D1 in defense, giving up just 11.9 ppg, and have allowed more than 18 twice all season. Sr. S Lagonza Hayward (Tennessee commit) leads the Toombs defense.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2024/11/1273354/football-tigers-face-tough-road-test-at-toombs