The Eustace Bulldogs will head out on the road to square off against the Commerce Tigers at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Eustace has struggled recently with 15 defeats in a row, while Commerce will arrive with five straight victories.
Eustace's offense might be in the hot seat on Friday considering what happened against Malakoff on Thursday. They were outmatched by the Tigers and fell 56-0. While losing is never fun, the Bulldogs can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 1118th, while the Tigers are ranked 244th).
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Commerce). They really took it to Mineola for the full four quarters, racking up a 64-12 win. The Tigers pushed the score to 49-12 by the end of the third, a deficit the Yellowjackets had no chance of recovering from.
Eustace better keep an eye on Aidan Brown. He was instrumental in Commerce's win, rushing for 191 yards and three scores on only six carries, while also throwing for 60 yards and one touchdown. Brown's longest rush was for an incredible 78 yards. Ky'mani Graham was another key player, rushing for 113 yards and one TD.
Commerce was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 365 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 211 rushing yards in 11 consecutive contests dating back to last season.
Special teams played a big role in the game for Commerce, adding 14 points to the final score. The biggest highlight from special teams (and perhaps the team as a whole) came courtesy of Malik Garcia, who ran a kickoff back for a touchdown.
Commerce's record now sits at 5-1. As for Eustace, their loss dropped their record down to 0-8.
Eustace took a serious blow against Commerce when the teams last played back in October of 2024, falling 38-8. Can the Bulldogs avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
