Commerce Works Towards Big Picture

You can practice any number of plays, you can set up any kind of defense, but the bottom line when you’re getting a football team up to speed in the pre-season is to be better each day than you were the day before.

That’s the mindset of the Commerce Tigers as they continue to close in on their season opener on August 29. So far, coach Steve Savage said this week, that’s what his team has been working towards.

“I’ve been real pleased with the way we’ve worked and the way we’ve gone about making this team better,” Savage said.

The team is working to overcome the loss of several key seniors from 2007, including quarterback Reuben Haynes, Cohen Cooke, Jake Flint and Baxter Barnes.


But several seniors appear ready to move into leadership roles on the team, including Chase Bowen, Javon Womack, Taylor Sims and Austin Hanley.

Savage said he was pleased with the way the team has improved over the last several weeks.

“We’re moving in the right direction,” he said. “I think we’re getting a little better every day.”

Savage said as the team members continue to work to define themselves, they also continue to work on the fundamentals of the game.

“This football team is still trying to find itself and what it can do,” he said. “We’re trying to find out defensively who we are, and make sure we have everybody in the right position.

“Sometimes even though you’ve played the first game, you still may not have them where they should be at, but we’re getting closer to it.”

Commerce is in a good spot to work out all the kinks. Its first region game isn’t scheduled until Oct. 3, at Athens Academy.

That gives them four full games and five weeks to get everything in place before making a run at their region opponents.

Savage says he hopes his team will have itself situated well before it reaches Athens Academy.

The Tigers will start their season Aug. 29 with the latest installment of a cross-county rivalry with the Jefferson Dragons. Last year, the Dragons ended a 12-year Commerce winning streak with a 42-7 blowout.

But Savage says the opener and the three games that follow are just opportunities for his team to improve before getting to the more important games, those that could lead Commerce to another state title.

Meanwhile, the goal is to get better each day.