COMMERCE — Thanksgiving came six days early Friday night for the 10th ranked Commerce Tigers.
After falling behind 21-0 midway through the second quarter, head coach Willie Ng's Tigers advanced to the third round of the Oklahoma Class 2A playoffs with a thrilling come-from-behind 38-35 victory over the Morris Eagles on Commerce's Tiger Field.
While winning their seventh straight game, the Tigers are making their seventh trip to the third round of the playoffs and their first since 2006.
The Tigers carry a 12-1 record to Hennessey next Friday for a 7:30 p.m. contest.
Coach Shannon Watford's Hennessey Eagles (9-3) advanced to the third round with a 31-13 victory Friday night over Lindsey.
"I guarantee you, the way we're playing right now, we'll go anywhere," coach Ng said. "We've got a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving and we'll enjoy some turkey, but the next night is our next step."
Things didn't start out like it was going to be a very joyous Thanksgiving for the Tigers against the 7-5 Morris Eagles.
Following an exchange of punts on their first possessions, Morris put their offensive future in the arm and legs of senior quarterback Hayden Sharp (6-6. 200).
Sharp, who has signed to played baseball for coach Sunny Galloway's Oklahoma Sooners, needed only two plays to cover 70 yards on the Eagles second series.
Senior tailback Corey Lewis ran a flat pattern and caught a pass from Sharp before racing 70 yards for a touchdown with 7:49 left in the first quarter. Lewis put an exclamation point on the TD by kicking the extra point.
"We knew they were big and we knew they were physical up front, but Morris is a talented football team," coach Ng said. "Their quarterback really played well and he was tough to defend."
After a failed fake punt on the next possession by the Tigers gave the Eagles the ball at the Commerce 39-yard line, Sharp needed only five plays to give Morris a 14-0 cushion.
Senior wide receiver Corey Hill split the Commerce secondary for a 14-yard touchdown pass from Sharp with 5:15 remaining in the first quarter.
The PAT by Lewis created a two-touchdown lead.
Hill turned around on defense and stopped a Commerce drive by intercepting a Kasey Ng pass at the Morris 10-yard line on the next Tigers possession.
Passes of 20, 22 and 16 yards by Sharp along with a 10-yard run by the quarterback ignited a 90-yard touchdown drive for the Eagles.
Sophomore halfback Guthrie Dean burst straight up the middle for a 29-yard touchdown run to conclude the drive. The point-after by Lewis stunned the partisan crowd with 8:36 left until halftime as the Eagles soared to a 21-0 lead.
“They totally shut down our running game, so we figured we were going to have to throw the football to get back into the game,” coach Ng said. “I’ll take my coaching hat off for a moment and say my son Kasey did a heck of a job bringing us back.
“Of course he couldn’t have done that if our offensive line hadn’t done a great job of pass protection,” coach Ng said. “They only gave up one sack all night and that was late in the game.”
A 43-yard pass from senior Kasey Ng to his sophomore brother Kyler Ng started the Tigers comeback as Commerce marched 61 yards in five plays.
Senior tailback Bryson Sullivan culminated the drive with a 2-yard touchdown plunge with 7:05 left in the second quarter. Tyler Maxville kicked the point-after for a 21-7 deficit.
Following a four-and-out series by the Eagles, Commerce drove 66 yards in five plays behind the pin-point passing of Kasey Ng that included a 44-yard throw to Sullivan coming out of the backfield.
Maxville out-leaped Morris cornerback Tyson Howard for a nifty 17-yard TD pass from Kasey Ng with 3:35 until halftime. Maxville booted the extra point as the Tigers trailed 21-14 at halftime.
“We were getting our tails kicked and we went into the locker room and challenged our kids at half,” coach Ng said. “We felt like we were getting whipped up front and we reminded them about the ‘Big Blue Wave’ and how we just wanted to sweep down the field. The kids responded and stepped up the second half.”
An example of their resolve and intestinal fortitude was displayed by Sullivan on the second possession by the Tigers in the third quarter.
The 6-2, 190-pound back broke five individual tackles en route to a 25-yard touchdown run with 8:52 showing on the clock. Maxville completed the Commerce comeback with the PAT for a 21-21 tie.
Despite pinning the Eagles at their own 12-yard line, Sharp wasn’t going to let the momentum change. The quarterback smashed straight ahead into the Commerce secondary on the way to an 88-yard touchdown run. Lewis added the point-after to give Morris a 28-21 with 3:09 left in the third quarter.
After consuming the remaining three minutes in the third quarter, Kasey Ng found junior tight end Braden Smith open for a 52-yard touchdown pass streaking down the sideline. Maxville’s extra point tied the score at 28-28 just 11 seconds gone in the fourth quarter.
Maxville tied a Commerce high school record after the Tigers offense stalled on their next possession. The senior nailed a 44-yard field goal with 9:31 remaining in the game to tie a record set by Bobby Crawford and give Commerce their first lead at 31-28.
The Tigers defense denied the Eagles a scoring opportunity on their next possession by tackling Sharp for no gain on a fourth-and-2 call at the Commerce 24-yard line.
Sullivan electrified the crowd on the next play by exploding up the middle for a 76-yard touchdown run. Maxville’s point-after with 3:07 showing on the clock increased the Commerce lead to a 38-28 margin.
Just when things appeared to be going the Tigers way, ‘old mo’ reared his ugly head as Morris took advantage of a 15-yard face mask penalty following a 20-yard run by Sharp to keep alive a 68-yard, nine-play drive by the Eagles.
Sharp connected with Hill for a 17-yard touchdown pass on a 4th-and-10 call with time winding down. The pass was tipped by two different Commerce defenders before Hill made the grab just inside the back of the endzone line. Lewis kicked the extra point for a 38-35 deficit with 1:23 left in the game.
Despite a failed onsides kick, the Eagles held the Tigers and forced a punt with 58 ticks left on the clock.
Three incomplete passes by Sharp and an interception by Commerce defensive back Luis Arizpe brought an end to the game.
Sullivan led the Commerce ground game with 152 of the total 156 yards rushing and three touchdowns.
Kasey Ng rushed for 12 yards while completing 18 of 32 passes for 299 yards and two TDs.
Kyler Ng led the Tigers receiving corps with five catches for 62 yards while Sullivan caught four passes for 79 yards. Maxville had three receptions for 55 yards and Witten caught three passes for 33 yards.
While Commerce generated 455 yards in total offense, the Eagles amassed 508 total yards.
Sharp paced the Eagles offense with 126 yards on 12 carries and one TD while completing 15 of 52 passes for 290 yards and three TDs with three interceptions. Lewis added 51 yards on 15 carries and Dean rushed for 40 yards on six attempts.
“I am so proud of our coaching staff for the game plan they put together and more importantly for the adjustments that they made at halftime,” coach Ng said. “But most of all I’m proud of the fact that our kids didn’t fold and they really stepped up. They never got down, they got mad”
The game in figures
Morris 14 7 7 7 — 35
Commerce 0 14 7 17 — 38
First quarter
Morris — Lewis 70 pass from Sharp (Lewis kick), 7:49
Morris — Hill 14 pass from Sharp (Lewis kick), 5:15
Second quarter
Morris — Dean 29 run (Lewis kick), 8:36
Commerce — Sullivan 2 run (Maxville kick), 7:)5
Commerce — Maxville 17 pass from Kasey Ng (Maxville kick), 3:35
Third quarter
Commerce — Sullivan 25 run (Maxville kick), 8:52
Morris — Sharp 88 run (Lewis kick), 3:09
Fourth quarter
Commerce — Smith 52 pass from Kasey Ng, 11:49
Commerce — FG 44, Maxville, 9:31
Commerce — Sullivan 76 run (Maxville kick), 3:07
Morris — Hill 17 pass from Sharp (Lewis kick), 1:23
Team statistics
Mor Comm
First downs 19 12
Rushes-yards 35-218 26-156
Passing yards 290 299
Return yards 7 72
Passes-com-att-int 15-42-3 18-32-1
Punts-avg 6-33 7-34.2
Fumbles-lost 4-1 0-0
Penalties-yards 4-30 3-25
Individual statistics
RUSHING — Morris, Sharp 12-126, Lewis 15-51, Dean 6-40, Monday 1-1, Wares 1-0; Commerce, Sullivan 14-152, Kasey Ng 3-12, McMain 6-6, Smith 1-(-2), Kyler Ng 2-(-12).
PASSING — Morris, Sharp 15-42-3; Commerce, Kasey Ng 18-32-1.
RECEIVING — Morris, Hill 8-106, Lewis 3-108, Dean 2-32, Wares 1-30, Monday 1-14; Commerce, Kyler Ng 5-62, Sullivan 4-79, Maxville 3-55, Witten 3-33, Smith 2-63, McMain 1-4.
