Eagles Shutout Commerce

COMMERCE — Defense isn’t played much better in a season opener than what the Canton Eagles brought Friday night.

The Eagles put a clampdown on Commerce and Canton sophomore Chance Wallace threw three touchdowns in his varsity quarterbacking debut in an 18-0 win.

The final score could have been even more lopsided. Although it was not a mistake-free outing with Canton suffering a lost fumble, two interceptions and two touchdowns nullified by penalties, Eagles Head Coach Lance Angel had plenty of good to say about his team’s performance.

"We’ve got some young players on offense and there were a few times we had some miscues, but I thought overall we played good. I thought the o-line played their butt off and defensively all 11 were flying to the ball," Angel said.

Canton (1-0) allowed just 53 yards total offense and two first downs. With Carey Bell, Jacob Harris, Nich Garrison, Destry Hesskew and B.J. Arthur leading the way, the Eagles made it a very frustrating night for Commerce quarterback Terrance Walker.

"At times, it felt like there were 15 out there instead of 11," Angel said. "I can’t say enough to the kids and the defensive coaches for the gameplan that they had, just a great job overall."

With ample protection in the pocket on pass plays, Wallace had a solid night completing 23 of 38 attempts for 281 yards and the three scores. His only blemishes through the air was a pair of interceptions in the first half.

"He did a good job, there were times he made some mistakes but that’s going to happen when your young," Angel said. "Other than that, I thought he handled the game well and came through when he had to."

Wallace hit Trent Termin on a 6-yard pass for the Eagles’ first touchdown to open the second quarter. On Canton’s next possession, he found Grant Franklin all alone downfield for a 47-yard TD.

Wallace said he was glad to walk away a winner on his first Friday night start.

"It is a lot different than I’m used to. I’ve got a lot of good players around me, so I’ve just got to do my job and they’ll make it happen for me," he said.

Having a great effort by his linemen made the transition to varsity play much easier, Wallace added.

"I’ve got to give credit to my line. They work hard every day and I wouldn’t have anybody else," he said.

When Wallace wasn’t keeping Commerce defenders chasing his receivers, he and running back Alex Williams were moving the ball effectively on the ground.

In the second half, with an increasingly tired Tiger defense on the field, Canton went with the punishing duo of running backs Tristan Lowrie and Zack Cummings. The two combined for 79 yards after halftime and the Eagles racked up 207 for the game.

It looked as thought Canton would extend its lead late in the third quarter. A punt from the Tigers’ Joey Farquhar was downed at the Eagle 2, but Williams got Canton out of that fix with an 18-yard carry on the first play of the drive.

Cummings then took center stage on offense and helped Canton to midfield, soon followed by a 10-yard Wallace carry with a 15-yard late hit penalty against Commerce.

Four plays later, Wallace ran it in from the Commerce 5, but it would be the first of two Canton touchdowns called back on penalties. Taken back to the Tiger 20, the Eagles were stopped four yards short of a repeat scoring play.

The penalties and subsequent long-yardage situations were the biggest concern to Angel from Friday’s win.

"There were a few times we tried to get greedy and it cost us. We can’t have penalties and we can’t second and third and longs," he said.

However, the Canton defense held Commerce inside its own 5-yard line and gave the ball back to the Eagle offense in great field position at the Tiger 38.

This time, Wallace and company cashed in. A string of running gains by Lowrie helped set up Wallace’s 12-yard throw to Williams for the final TD of the game with 7:42 left to play.

Backup quarterback Jonathon Huddle had a very nice showing in the fourth quarter, going 5-for-5 on pass plays for 56 yards. He had a 15-yard carry into the end zone brought back on an illegal block penalty with just over a minute remaining.

Canton will take a much shorter trip to meet Van Zandt County rival Edgewood this Friday at 7:30 p.m.