COMMERCE -- Monte Williams runs it up the middle for no gain and the crowd on the visitor's side goes wild.

It is only one carry out of the couple of dozen he will get in a game, but that's the kind of player he is: Everyone knows him, everyone wants him. Only a select few get him.

But you have to watch him. He may be the most exciting football player in the state, with Georgia Tech's Joe Hamilton his only serious competition. Even if he does go down with a mortal single-digit gain, he has that magnetism.

If Commerce games were televised, you would not go to the bathroom or the kitchen while the Tigers had the ball. Even in the stadium, the Tigers' offensive possessions lead to a few cups of coffee carelessly kicked over, a few wandering toddlers with understandably inattentive parents.

There is no reaction when he first touches the ball. But he and the crowd, which has watched him dominate in a black and gold uniform since his pre-teen years, have a certain synergy. At the first hint of open air, the crowd on the home side rises, and he accelerates.

Understand that as he takes the pitch or the handoff, cruising along while picking out his hole, he is already the fastest player on the field. But once he spots his target, bursting through a hole or creating one himself (he really is strong) it often seems that only divine intervention will bring him down.

And the best part about that extra gear is that it just comes naturally.

''I have no time to think,'' he said. ''If I think and I stutter-step, I get hit. I just get the ball and let my feet take over.''

There aren't many pairs faster than his, as Athens Academy found out Friday night. And the most vexing thing for the Spartans is that they really didn't do badly against him in their 37-24 loss.

Plenty of times, especially early in the game, the Spartans did exactly what you have to do to stop him: surround him. They gang-tackled him, not allowing him enough space to really get cranked up.

But you knew he would break loose. Everyone did.

It was ironic that his first trademark run came at the end of the first half. Athens Academy had just scored to take a 10-7 lead, and the Spartans chose the standard squib kick, as a way to keep it away from him. Problem was, the short ball put the Tigers at their own 45 with 31 seconds left in the half.

Do you pass? No.

Hand it off over the right tackle and watch him run. Forty-six yards later, the Tigers are in field goal position. Tie game at halftime. He does get the tough yards, running it up the gut here and there, but he takes your breath away when he busts free.

Third quarter, Commerce penalizes itself into a second-and-32 at its own 43-yard line.

Do you pass? No.

Hand it off to the right side, and there he goes. This time for 51. Fifty-one, but you wish he could go on forever.

The simple fact is, he brings the fun back to the game. He is not one of those players that little kids grow up emulating, because he cannot be emulated.

But that doesn't stop them from watching, in awe. They surround him after the game, not too much shorter than him. (They say he's 5-foot-8, but he isn't.) And he gives them low-fives and they shake his hand.

The same goes for the adults of this community, so football-crazed. They hug him, rap him on the shoulder pads, slap him on the back. He is so likable, so devoid of the '90s superstar syndrome that would probably be excusable for a guy who has 5,974 yards rushing in three -- three! -- seasons.

He is not the only star on this team -- Michael Collins and Daniel Carder would stand alone on most other squads in the state. But if Commerce is to win its second state championship ever, and the first since 1981 (a couple of years before he was born) the Tigers know he must carry the load.

Last year, the Tigers were hammered by powerful Lincoln County in the second round of the playoffs, but he was on the sideline for that game. He had broken his ankle in the previous week's win over Lovett and was lost for the season. And the season was lost without him.

There were questions earlier in the year about whether or not he was really back, whether that extra step had failed to make it through rehabilitation. Well, forget about that.

It's playoff time, and his 26 carries for 284 yards Friday night said all that needed to be said.

Stop him once, maybe twice. But he'll get you. He will.