Sullivan, Tigers Deck Colcord

COMMERCE, Okla. — Bryson Sullivan could sense someone was coming.

Commerce’s senior tailback had sliced through Colcord’s defense near midfield and had one man to beat in order to score.

“I knew he was pretty close, but I just kept moving my feet,” Sullivan said of his 51-yard touchdown run Friday night that gave Commerce a 28-14 lead in the fourth quarter. “I didn’t know how far he was, but I knew he was pretty close.”

Sullivan, who broke the tackle near the 30-yard line, rushed for 228 yards and scored four touchdowns as Commerce defeated Colcord 35-14 in a key Class 2A district game.

Commerce broke a 14-14 tie midway through the third quarter with a seven-play, 65-yard drive highlighted by a 19-yard touchdown pass to Sullivan from senior quarterback Kasey Ng.

“They started keeping up with us,” Sullivan said. “We got mad and played more physically. Our backs ran hard and the line played well.”

Commerce, 5-0, plays at unbeaten Adair next week in another district matchup.

Colcord, 3-2, controlled the ball most of the first half and limited Commerce to just three possessions. Commerce took advantage of good field position and a short Colcord punt in scoring its first touchdown on a 4-yard run by Sullivan with 8 minutes, 40 seconds left in the first half.

Colcord, which started the game with an 18-play drive that ended with a missed field-goal attempt, cut the lead to 7-6 with a 15-play, 76-yard drive that consumed 6 1/2 minutes of the second quarter.

Quarterback Canaan Sherrell, who had rushed for 78 yards on 12 carries in the first half, scored on a 1-yard run that cut Commerce’s lead to 7-6.

“We knew Sherrell was going to be their weapon and we had to stop him,” said Commerce head coach Willie Ng.

“I told Steve (Moss), our offensive coordinator, before the game, ‘Can you score more than 21?’ Their coaches do a great job. We were out of position at times.”

Commerce moved quickly after Colcord scored and drove 65 yards for a touchdown with just 25 seconds left in the half. Kasey Ng connected with Kyler Ng on a slant pattern for a 13-yard scoring pass that gave Commerce a 14-6 halftime lead.

But on Commerce’s fourth play of the second half, Colcord defensive back Darwin Davis returned an interception 56 yards for a touchdown, and the Hornets tied the score by passing for the two-point conversion.

From there, Commerce turned to Sullivan, who rushed for 160 yards on 21 carries in the second half.

“We have a thoroughbred, so you ride it,” Ng said. “We felt like we would be better up front tonight. We knew that was going to be to our advantage.”

Colcord, which had 127 yards rushing in the first half, finished with 188 yards on the ground and 75 yards passing.

“The last two drives were just a big blue wave,” Ng said. “Our offensive line just moved them out of the way.”