Commerce Cruises past New Boston

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COMMERCE - Never let it be said that Commerce's Aven Johnson doesn't make the most of his opportunities. The senior tailback turned half of his rushing attempts into touchdowns Friday night to lead the Tigers to a 35-14 non-district win over the New Boston Lions at Memorial Stadium.

Johnson carried the ball just eight times but totaled 131 yards and scored four touchdowns to lead the Tigers to their second victory of the young season. He also hauled in four passes for 53 yards.

"They are gearing up to stop 44 (Ryan Sienty) and we know it," said Commerce coach Steve Lineweaver, who lead his team to their second win without a loss. "That's why our other stuff, Aven and the passing game, are going well. They are determined not to let Ryan have the ball and we are taking advantage of that."

While opposing defenses are pinching the middle to stop Sienty, Johnson is running wild on the outside. He is averaging 148 yards rushing through two games and is gaining a whopping 18.5 yards per effort. He had 165 yards and three touchdowns on eight carries in a season-opening win over Dallas Pinkston last week.

Sienty didn't go unnoticed, however, as the senior fullback accounted for the remaining Tiger points on a four-yard run, three point-after kicks and a two-point conversion run. He finished the game with 31 yards rushing on six tries.

Quarterback Chad Anderson inflicted further damage on the New Boston defense as he completed eight of his 14 pass attempts for 138 yards and ran for 22 more yards on ten carries.

Things went the Tigers way from the coin flip as they won the toss and deferred to the second half. New Boston's captain elected to defend a goal with his option, giving Commerce the opportunity to receive to start the game.

And the Tigers made them pay for the gaff as Johnson capped a 6-play, 72-yard drive with a one-yard run to give Commerce an early 7-0 lead.

New Boston, 0-2 on the season, took advantage of a pair of Tiger miscues to tie the score. The Lions, who managed just 48 total yards in the first half, punted from their own 27 on their second possession of the game, but retained the ball when return man Larry Hatley fumbled at midfield. The defense forced another punt but it too was muffed, giving the Lions the ball at the Commerce 20-yard line.

They took advantage of the third chance as Shaundre Burns scored from seven yards out to knot the game at 7-7 with 2:59 left in the opening stanza.

"Some injuries forced us to put some guys back who have no experience and they had some butterflies," explained Lineweaver. "We have young players who lack experience but we will stick with them and they will do the job."

Commerce took the lead for good in the final minute of the quarter as Johnson raced 71 yards around right end for the go-ahead score. Sienty bulled the ball over for the two-point conversion and the Tigers led, 15-7, after one quarter.

The Tigers turned the tables in the second quarter as they forced a New Boston fumble at midfield, giving the offense the ball at their own 46-yard line. Johnson responded with runs of 15 and 17 yards to open the drive and finished it off three plays later with a four-yard scoring run.

Another Lion fumble on their next possession, this one at their own 40-yard line, set up the final Commerce score of the half. Anderson hit Antonio Burrell on a 36-yard play to move the ball inside the five yard line and Sienty did the honors with a four-yard run to give the Tigers a 29-7 halftime advantage.

Antonio Kull's interception of a Jason Canfield pass thwarted New Boston's only serious threat of the third quarter. And the Lions fourth turnover of the game, a fumble by back-up running back Trent Pommer set up Commerce's final score.

Anderson quickly guided the Tigers down the field as he hit Johnson on tosses of 14 and 26 yards to mover to the Lion 20. Johnson then scored on a 13-yard run two plays later, giving Commerce a commanding 35-7 lead with 9:47 still left in the third period.

New Boston ate up over seven minutes of the final quarter on a 19-play, 76-yard drive to score a meaningless touchdown with 1:36 left to play.