The last three meetings between region rivals Rabun County and Commerce have been drama-packed and shaped up the region. While a 55-28 win for the #4 Wildcats (7-0, 3-0 in 8-A D1) over the Tigers (0-7, 0-3) didn’t quite come down to the wire, the game still went a long way in shaping up the standings. Even with two teams on the opposite side of the spectrum, neither team appeared to give their records any merit.
Now, it wasn’t devoid of drama altogether. After a quick 3-and-out for the Tigers, Rabun’s first drive immediately turned over with a fumble inside their own 20. Commerce made them pay, as Tate Kirk threw a fade to Essien Lockleer for a 6-yd TD.
The Wildcats responded with a length drive, and a flip pass from Ty Truelove to Reid Giles resulted in an 11-yd TD. The extra point missed, leaving Commerce in the lead momentarily. It was the first of three scores for Rabun in a little over a two-minute span.
JK Fruster recovered a fumble a few snaps later. Giles then went virtually untouched on a 20-yd TD for the 13-7 lead at the 3:43 mark. A forced punt the Tigers would love to have had back, as Giles took it about 60 yards for a house call, stretching the lead to 20-7 with 2:27 on the clock.
The Tigers aired it out more though, and Kirk hit Ty Sorrells on a 46-yd TD that brought Commerce back into the game. Not to be outdone, Rabun County retaliated once again on a dazzling run by Lake Evans that went for 36 yards where he somehow emerged out of a swarm of white jerseys.
Later in the half, Shamar Myles had an interception for the Tigers on a tipped pass. Again the turnover resulted in points. Kirk threw a deep ball to Sorrells for a 41-yd TD. The point after was blocked, keeping it at 27-20.
Rabun got the ball to open the second half and wasted only about 50 seconds before Giles struck again with a 35-yd TD, dragging a tackler into the end zone. They scored twice more in short order, with Giles adding a 39-yd TD and Ethan Hopper dashing for day dirt on a pick six, putting the game out of reach at 48-20.
For good measure, Giles added an 8-yd TD run to open the fourth, ballooning the lead up to 55-20. Giles then added an interception moments later.
Commerce would score in the final minutes on a 4-yd TD pass from Kirk to Lockleer. The 55 points is the most any Rabun team has put on Commerce all-time. Giles finished with six touchdowns and an interception.
