AFTON — With the intent of proving something to themselves, the seventh ranked Class A Commerce Tigers gained a 35-13 victory Friday night over the previously undefeated 17th-rated Afton Eagles.
Coach Willie Ng’s Tigers are 4-0 on the season and 3-0 in District A-8 action. The loss dropped coach Zach Gardner’s Eagles to 2-1 in the district and 3-1 overall.
The Tigers return to Commerce next Friday for a 7:30 p.m. matchup with Oklahoma Union while Afton visits Quapaw.
“Our kids took it top a different level of intensity this week,” Ng said. “After last Friday’s 20-12 win over Foyil, our kids had some serious motivation to come out and play well.
“We preached to our linemen every day this week and coach (Jason) Hall came out and worked their tails off,” Ng said. “We felt like we had to have better line play on both sides of the ball and we got it.”
Afton took the opening kickoff and moved into Commerce territory before a pass from Eagles quarterback Brennon Fuser was intercepted by Commerce defensive back Tyler Maxville.
But, Maxville fumbled the interception and Afton wide receiver Sam Shepard recovered the loose ball at the Commerce 9-yard line.
After a 7-yard run by Tye Turley, the Eagles grabbed the lead on a 2-yard touchdown run by Fuser with 7:31 left in the first quarter. Jacob Mustain’s extra point created a 7-0 lead.
A failed onside kick by the Eagles set Commerce up at their own 48-yard line.
Junior tailback Bryson Sullivan reeled off a 50-yard run before ending the drive with a 2-yard TD plunge just 31 seconds after Afton had scored. The point-after by Joey Bowling rallied Commerce to a 7-7 tie.
On the ensuing kickoff, Fuser rambled 72 yards to give the Eagles the ball at the Commerce 19-yard line.
Five plays later, Turley scored on a 2-yard run with 4:34 left in the first quarter. Fuser’s two-point conversion pass failed as Afton held a 13-7 lead.
Taking possession at their own 48-yard line on the next series, the Tigers needed five plays and a 15-yard personal foul penalty on Afton to reach the endzone.
Junior tailback Austin McMain scored on a 10-yard burst up the middle with 3:16 remaining in the first quarter to tie the score. Bowling misfired on the two-point conversion pass.
“We found some things they were giving us offensively and we started taking advantage of them,” Ng said. “Because of that, we didn’t have to make any adjustments at halftime.”
Late in the second quarter, Commerce drove 65 yards in seven plays to grab the lead for good.
After Bowling kept the drive alive with a 2-yard run on a 4th-and-1 call, Sullivan ended the series with a 2-yard TD run with 4:47 left before halftime. The PAT by Bowling gave Commerce a 20-13 margin.
“We came out and played pretty solid the first half,” Gardner said. “Our kids played with a lot of intensity and except for a couple of breakdowns on fourth down plays, they were able to convert and keep control of the ball.”
Following an exchange of possessions, Commerce constructed a 65-yard, eight-play drive in the waning moments of the second quarter.
Once again, the Tigers were faced with a 4th-and-3 call and a fake punt by Bowling resulted in a 37-yard touchdown run for the quarterback. Bowling’s extra point sailed wide left with 46 seconds on the clock as the Tigers carried a 26-13 lead to the locker room.
“That was a huge momentum changer,” Ng said. “We weren’t trying to score with the fake, we just wanted a first down. But Joey got loose down the sideline and we
“Our game plan was to attack them because they have a lot of speed and they cover the field real well,” Gardner said. “So, we wanted to run right at them, but during the fourth quarter Fuser suffered a twisted ankle that limited his mobility.”
During the third quarter, Afton got burned on the first play as the onside kick attempt went nine yards the wrong way and gave Commerce the ball at the Eagles 31-yard line.
Afton’s defense stiffened forcing Bowling to kick a 31-yard field goal at the 10-minute mark in the third quarter for a 29-13 Tigers lead.
Consuming more than six minutes on the clock with their next possession, the Tigers marched 96 yards in nine plays for their final score.
The marathon drive was aided by a roughing the punter penalty called on Afton on a 4th-and-12 punt by Commerce.
Bowling ended the drive by lobbing a 31-yard touchdown pass to Sullivan circling out of the backfield. The extra point kick failed as the Tigers built a 35-13 cushion with 2:15 left in the third quarter.
“We told our team ‘when you hit adversity, how are you going to respond?’,” Ng said. “We had some adversity last week and our defense responded by not letting them score the final three quarters.”
“Afton is a very competitive, good football team,” Ng said. “But, I thought if we could get up two touchdowns then they wouldn’t be able to regroup.”
Sullivan led the Tigers with 132 yards on 19 carries as Commerce accumulated 348 yards in total offense. Bowling added 59 yards on 11 carries and McMain 58 yards on seven carries.
Bowling completed 8 of 16 passes for 92 yards without an interception. Mickey Morgan caught four passes for 26 yards.
Turley paced the Eagles ground game with 132 yards on 29 carries as Afton was limited to 191 total yards.
Fuser completed 6 of 11 passes for 66 yards with one interception while Shepard led the Eagles receivers with two catches for 50 yards.
The game in figures
Commerce 13 12 10 0 — 35
Afton 13 0 0 0 — 13
First quarter
Afton — Fuser 2 run (Mustain kick), 7:31
Commerce — Sullivan 2 run (Bowling kick), 7:00
Afton — Turley 2 run (pass failed), 4:34
Commerce — McMain 10 run (pass failed), 3:16
Second quarter
Commerce — Sullivan 2 run (Bowling kick), 4:47
Commerce — Bowling 37 run (kick failed), 0:46
Third quarter
Commerce — FG Bowling 31, 10:00
Commerce — Sullivan 31 pass from Bowling (kick failed), 2:15
Team statistics
Com Afton
First downs 18 13
Rushes-yards 39-256 42-125
Passing yards 92 66
Return yards 28 (-5)
Pass-com-att-int 8-16-0 6-11-1
Punts-avg 1-45 4-43
Fumbles-lost 3-2 3-0
Penalties-yards 7-55 8-85
Individual statistics
Rushing — Commerce, Sullivan 19-132, Bowling 11-59, McMain 7-58, M. Morgan 1-5, Arizpe 1-2. Afton, Turley 29-132, Fuser 11-(-7).
Passing — Commerce, Bowling 8-16-0-92. Afton, Fuser 6-11-1-66.
Receiving — Commerce, M. Morgan 4-26, Sullivan 2-53, McMain 1-7, Kasey Ng 1-6. Afton, Shepard 2-50, Turley 2-5, Wheeler 1-27, Henry 1-(-1).
