Commerce Coming to Lincolnton

September 25, 2003

Devils Intend to End Streak; Injured Tiger QB to Start

Lincoln County's Red Devils are now ranked as the #1 team in Georgia's Class A in the three major polls (AP, AJC, and SMQB - see below).  This week, many of the fans in Lincolnton are thinking one thing about that ranking: SO WHAT -- COMMERCE IS COMING TO TOWN.

The first five times the Devils and the Tigers met, Lincoln County won. The last four times, the Tigers have won, with each game finding a way to get under the Devils skin a bit more. The first 3 of those wins were fourth-quarter comebacks, and the winning margin for all three of those games totalled only 5 points. Before the 2003 season started, this game looked to be the marquee matchup in Georgia this week.  In August, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution picked it as their Week 5 Game of the Week. Going into last week's games, it appeared this would be a top 4 matchup.

But Commerce unexpectedly lost to Morgan County (#8 in AA) 35-7 after losing QB and offensive leader Josh Haynes on the third play of the game. The Tigers dropped in the rankings to #6 or lower. With the Tiger QB rumored to have a broken collarbone, the Devils became a strong favorite going into the game.

But not so fast. This is Lincoln County vs. Commerce, and as last year's game in TigerTown proved, anything can happen. And it now appears that Haynes will start the game after the injury proved not to involve broken bones but just a bruise.  Here's the latest Commerce news from OnlineAthens.com. And here's a quote from Tiger running back and backup QB Dennis Wilder about our Red Devils:  "Lincoln County just seems to not know how to line up on the option."  We'll see Friday night if that's true this year.

Click on these links for more info on this week's big game: