SOUTH COFFEYVILLE — Despite a mistake-prone performance on both sides of the football, the Commerce Tigers opened the season Friday night with a 40-20 victory at Oklahoma Union High School.
“We came out and played a little sloppy early,” Commerce head coach Willie Ng said. “Even though it was the first game, you can’t have six fumbles (losing two) and two major penalties that lead to scores and expect to win.”
The Tigers remain on the road next Friday by traveling to Springfield, Mo., for a 7 p.m. contest with Lighthouse Christian High School at Pleasant Hope, Mo.
“Because they are a private school, they have to look around for an available field to play their home games,” Ng said.
“One thing is for sure, you can’t take anything away from Oklahoma Union,” Ng said. “They wound up running 55 plays compared only 42 for us. They just never quit.”
Both teams scored in the first quarter before the Tigers took control of the game to start the second half.
“Early in the game we were stunting our linebackers too much on defense and they were taking advantage of that,” Ng said. “As a result, we were losing outside containment and they were busting big plays.
“Coach (Chris) Cawyer made some adjustments at halftime and our kids executed well in the second half,” Ng said. “They never quit and fought through the adversities our fumbles and mental mistakes caused.”
Senior fullback Austin McMain (5-10, 185) led the Tigers ground game with 132 yards on 11 carries and two touchdowns. Junior halfback Braden Smith (6-2, 180) added 42 yards on eight carries as the Tigers generated 154 yards on 30 carries.
“Austin really ran hard,” Ng said. “He did a great job of finding a crease and making something out of nothing.”
Making his first start under center, senior quarterback Kasey Ng (5-10, 170) completed 8 of 12 passes for 208 yards and three touchdowns without an interception.
“We’ve got to work hard next week on improving our pass protection,” Ng said. “Kasey threw the ball well, but there were a few times when he had to take the sack because he was being hurried by OU’s defense.”
Younger brother sophomore wide receiver Kyler Ng (5-11, 135) led the Commerce receiving corps with four catches for 104 yards and two TDs.
Senior wide out Tyler Maxville (5-9, 165) made two receptions for 82 yards and one touchdown.
While the Commerce offense generated 362 total yards, the defense surrendered 271 yards to Oklahoma Union.
“We gave up 171 yards on the ground because our linebackers were out of position,” Ng said. “But, that is a correctable mistake that we’ll work on this week.”
