Commerce Journal

Commerce Tigers trounce Dallas Pinkston 42 - 6

By Kevin Carson

Special to the Herald Banner

COMMERCE - The heat index on the field at Memorial Stadium was 117 degrees, but the Commerce Tigers barely worked up a sweat in a season-opening 42-6 win over the Dallas Pinkston Vikings Friday night.

Commerce, ranked eighth in Class 3A entering the year, scored on their first four possessions en route to a 35-0 halftime advantage.Three of those scores came on consecutive Tiger plays from scrimmage.

"The heat worried us before the game," said CHS coach Steve Lineweaver. "We even considered talking to the officials about shortening the time, but it really cooled off after the game started. Then we jumped out to a big lead and were able to give everybody more rest."

The Tigers were hot in the first half,piling up 282 yards of total offense, including 213 yards on the ground. They finished with 362 yards of offense while the defense held the Vikings to just 142 yards and forced five turnovers.

"Pinkston is a very unorthodox team offensively and we had to make some adjustments early," continued Lineweaver. "They have a very good running back who can hurt you, but we were able to contain him most of the night. Overall, this was a very good first game on both sides of the ball."

Junior quarterback Chad Anderson capped a 16-play, 77 yard drive on a keeper from five yards out to put the Tigers up, 7-0, on their first possession. That drive consumed 5:19 of the first quarter, but the next three Commerce scoring drives took just four, 10 and 58 seconds, respectively.

The second score came just one play after P.J. Winston intercepted a pass that was deflected by teammate Logan Coffey at the Pinkston 30 yard line. Winston returned the pick 29 yards to set up Ryan Sienty's one-yard scoring plunge to put CHS on top, 14-0, with 2:22 still left in the first quarter.

Winston opened the second quarter with a 57-yard run on a delayed draw to extend the lead to 21-0. That score came just one play after the Commerce defense held Pinkston without a first down for the third straight series.

The Vikings put together their first extended drive of the night on the next series as they advanced to the Tiger 47 before the drive stalled.

Commerce took a little longer, almost a full minute, to notch their fourth score. Sophomore reserve Antonio Kull got the Tigers out of a hole at their own 14 and Pinkston contributed back-to-back offsides penalties to give CHS a first down at the 40.

Avin Johnson took a swing pass from Anderson on second down and raced down the right sideline 58 yards before stepping out at the two. Brock Turner finished off the drive with a two-yard run.

Pinkston again marched into Tiger territory, this time down to the 30, but the Lion defense clamped down. Deshon Wilkerson sacked the Viking quarterback for an 11-yard loss and Turner ended the threat with an interception inside the Commerce 15 on the next play.

A Tiger fumble at their own 10 yard line gave the Vikings their best field position of the game, but they returned the favor on the very next play.

Another miscue, this time a shanked punt that traveled only six yards, set Pinkston up at the Commerce 27. Again the Tiger defense stiffened and took over on downs at their own 31 with just 27 seconds to play.

Johnson's 16 yard run gave the Tigers a first down near midfield and Winston scored again on the delayed draw, this time from 53 yards out, to give the Tigers another quick score. Winston led all rushers with 116 yards on just seven carries.

The final Commerce score, a 3-yard run by Johnson, came following the Vikings fourth turnover of the game. The Tigers first drive of the second half stalled just inside Pinkston territory but the Vikings fumbled the punt, giving CHS the ball at the 14.

Pinkston's only score came with 4:48 left in the game when Gary Hill stripped Commerce's Demitrius Guster of the ball and raced 24 yards for the score.

The Tigers continue non-conference play next Friday when they travel to New Boston for a 7:30 pm kickoff.