By Terry Cookston
Special to the Herald Banner
Commerce quarterback Chad Anderson racked up 213 yards total offense and scored two touchdowns rushing and one passing in the Tigers' 34-14 victory over Princeton to claim the Greenville Herald Banner Player-of-the-Week honor for Week No. 6.
Anderson carried the pigskin 23 times for 123 yards rushing, including TD runs of four and eight yards. He also completed 2-of-3 passes for 90 yards through the air, with one to Broderick Kelley covering 69 yards for the Tigers' second score.
The multi-talented senior engineered all five scoring drives for Commerce with the help of Avin Johnson's 139 yards rushing and Ryan Sienty's 93 yards to keep the Tigers undefeated at 6-0. The win sets the stage for Friday's big District 10-3A showdown between No. 9-ranked Commerce and No. 2-ranked Royse City.
For the second consecutive week area quarterbacks and receivers dazzled the crowds and stole the show with outstanding performances.
Celeste QB Brody Lipsey connected on 16-of-30 throws for 296 yards and three touchdowns as the Blue Devils fell just short of upsetting Class A's No. 3-ranked Detroit. Lipsey passed the 1,000-yard passing barrier with the effort, totaling 1, 067 yards for the year. Jamaica Rector pulled down three scoring tosses of 8, 63 and 5 yards, as well as rushed for a TD, in the Blue Devils' 34-29 loss to the Eagles.
The Boles combo of John Davis and Matt Rager continued to put up outstanding stats as Davis registered 253 yards on 10-of-18 passes for three TDs and Rager hauled in six catches for 220 yards receiving with TDs of 45, 44 and 76 yards. The Hornets defeated Oakwood 34-19 and improved to 5-1 for the season.
Lone Oak QB Craig Anderson prepped for Friday night's big battle with No. 5 Grand Saline by completing 10-of-19 passes for 143 yards with a 26-yard scoring strike to receiver Russell Mann in the Buffaloes' 56-21 shellacking of Como-Pickton. The pair connected on another 48-yard TD that was nullified. Both also tallied rushing TDs of 7 and 43 yards, respectively. The Buffs continue to lead the area in offensive production and have scored 185 points in their last three games.
Wolfe City quarterback Kevin Brown completed 19-of-34 attempts for 209 yards in the Wolves' 42-27 loss to Bells. Brian Boggs grabbed 11 aerials for 116 yards and two touchdowns. He also scored one TD rushing and kicked three PATs.
Royse City QB Fred Mahan hit receiver Joe Watkins with TD strikes of 27, 31 and 19 yards to lead the Bulldogs to a 42-21 district win over Quinlan Ford. The Bulldogs also received 181 yards rushing on 21 carries from fullback B.J. White.
Greenville's 5-8, 175-pound senior Mac Morrow became the area's first 1,000-yard rusher with 1,001 yards after running for 128 yards on 24 carries in the Lions' 31-28 loss to Texas High. He also scored on runs of 64, 2 and 27 yards.
Defensively, Fannindel's Colt Conley booked a game-high 23 tackles in the Falcons' 18-12 loss to Maud. Lone Oak safeties Wes Richardson and Joey Maiwelmal combined for 30 tackles, with Richardson chalking up 14 and Maiwelmal registering 16 in the Buffs' win over Como-Pickton.
The area will feature two of the top matchups of the year Friday night when undefeated No. 9 Commerce meets unbeaten No. 2 Royse City in a battle for supremacy in District 10-3A and 6-0 Lone Oak hosts 6-0 No. 5 Grand Saline for the lead in District 13-2A.
Area Team Stats
Team W L T PF PA
Boles 5 1 0 134 111
Caddo Mills 2 4 0 93 186
Celeste 3 3 0 164 128
Commerce 6 0 0 241 55
Community 4 2 0 161 111
Fannindel 1 5 0 106 161
Farmersville 4 2 0 143 53
Greenville 4 2 0 160 124
GCS 4 2 0 272 211
Leonard 2 4 0 69 183
Lone Oak 6 0 0 304 55
Quinlan Ford 2 4 0 70 140
Rains 3 3 0 141 136
Royse City 6 0 0 184 99
Wolfe City 1 5 0 59 251
Rushing Yds.
Mac Morrow, Greenville 1,001
Justin Miller, Lone Oak 954
Matt Houchin, Community 717
B.J. White, Royse City 696
Jason Lenamond, Caddo Mills 670
Avin Johnson, Commerce 615
Joe Watkins, Royse City 610
Jordan Everhart, GCS 531
Joseph Prenger, Boles 518
Tommy Potts, Rains 500
Rod Givens, Celeste 475
Chad Anderson, Commerce 470
Scoring TDs Pts.
Jamaica Rector, Celeste 15 96
Justin Miller, Lone Oak 15 92
Jordan Everhart, GCS 15 90
Ryan Sienty, Commerce 10 85
Erik Hansen, GCS 6 84
Joe Watkins, Royse City 12 72
Avin Johnson, Commerce 11 68
Tommy Potts, Rains 11 68
Mac Morrow, Greenville 10 60
Matt Rager, Boles 9 54
Matt Houchin, Community 8 48
Kurt Huie, Lone Oak 8 48
TD Passes
Craig Johnson, GCS 15; Brody Lipsey, Celeste 12; Craig Anderson, Lone Oak 10; John Davis, Boles 8; Chad Anderson, Commerce 4; Ryan Vaughn, Greenville 4; Josh Howard, Farmersville 3; Chris Williamson, Caddo Mills 3; Fred Mahan, Royse City 3.
TD Receptions
Jamaica Rector, Celeste 9; Matt Rager, Boles 8; Erik Hansen, GCS 6; Russell Mann, Lone Oak 4; Brian Johnson, GCS 4; Germaine Brown, Lone Oak 3; Jordan Everhart, GCS 3; Andre' Rector, Celeste 3; Joe Watkins, Royse City 3; Reggie Howard, Greenville 2; Cecil Simpkins, Farmersville 2.
Kicking
Erik Hansen, GCS 48 points (24 2-point PATs); Jarod Gibbs, Lone Oak 32 PATs; Jake Jackson, Greenville 27 points (4 FGs and 15 PATs); Ryan Sienty, Commerce 20 PATs; Juan Zapata, Royse City 13 PATs; Shawn Deer, Community 13 Points (1 FG and 10 PATs); Brody Lipsey, Celeste 10 PATs; Marty Renfro, Rains 10 PATs; Neal Locke, Caddo Mills 7 PATs.