10/16/99

C. Anthony Mosser / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

ROYSE CITY - The Commerce Tigers turned the District 10-3A showdown with Royse City into a showcase for its backfield of quarterback Chad Anderson and running backs Avin Johnson, Ryan Sienty and Clifford Ethridge.

That quartet combined to rush for 360 of the Tigers' 375 yards as Commerce overwhelmed the Bulldogs, 48-7, in a battle of state ranked Class 3A teams at Bulldog Stadium on Friday.

With the victory, Commerce (7-0, 4-0 in District 10-3A), ranked second in The News' Class 3A area poll and ninth in the state, avenged a loss to Royse City last season that remains the Tigers' lone loss in district play this decade. Royse City (6-1, 3-1) entered the game ranked second in the state and first in The News' Class 3A area poll.

As the final seconds ticked away, Commerce cheerleaders unraveled a sign that read, "Revenge is sweet." They didn't need to wait as much of the standing-room only crowd estimated at 4,000 had left when it became a one-sided game.

"I don't care for that word [revenge]," Commerce coach Steve Lineweaver said. "We wanted to come up to their level of play and play better. They spanked us pretty bad last year [27-13], but it's not revenge we wanted. We just wanted to compete and improve. We did that."

The Bulldogs were expected to be buoyed by the return of quarterback Mitch Morris, who had missed the previous three games with a broken collarbone. Morris started but played only the first series, rushing twice for 10 yards. They had much bigger problems on defense, particularly containing the quick Commerce backs and tackling them in the open field.

Commerce rolled up 239 rushing yards in the first half and led, 28-7. Johnson, who had 101 of his 112 rushing yards at halftime, scored first-half touchdowns on runs of 14 and 7 yards and on a 21-yard pass from Anderson. Ethridge rushed for 95 of his 111 yards in the first half.

Royse City's lone touchdown came on a 5-yard run by B.J. White to make it 14-7 with 4:35 left in the half. But Commerce needed just five plays to answer with a 48-yard scoring drive that was culminated with Ryan Sienty's 1-yard run. When the Tigers got the ball back, it took them just two plays to score. Ethridge broke free for a 45-yard run, and Johnson followed by taking a screen pass from Anderson and turning it into a 21-yard touchdown play for a 28-7 halftime lead.

It was more of the same in the second half. Royse City's White, who finished with 87 rushing yards on 22 carries, fumbled on the second play from scrimmage of the third quarter. The Tigers capitalized on the next play as Sienty burst through the middle en route to a 40-yard touchdown run. It was one of two second-half touchdowns by the Tigers that was set up by fumble recoveries.

One of the few bright spots for Royse City was that Morris did not get reinjured but was taken out as a precaution. He watched the remainder of the game from the sideline.

"He said he didn't feel right, and we didn't want to take a chance," Bulldog coach Robert Wilcox said. "We'll live to play another day."

C. Anthony Mosser is a freelance writer based in Plano.