COMMERCE — When the Riverton Rams crossed the Kansas border to take on Commerce at Tiger Field Friday night, they thought it might be a tough contest.

After all both teams were undefeated and draw attention in state polls.

But the Oklahoma 2A powerhouse only had about 12 seconds of tense moments in downing Kansas 3A Riverton, 42-8. The only time Commerce fans were on the edge of their seat after two early touchdowns led to a 28-0 Tiger halftime lead, came in the third quarter when Riverton put together a three-play drive that resulted in a Jacob Helton 43-yard touchdown run on a counter play inside.

He broke free at the 35 and raced untouched into the Ram end zone.

Ram quarterback Greyson Spriggs ran a bootleg to the right corner of the end zone for the two-point conversion that made the score 28-8.

But Commerce fans had any thoughts of a Riverton comeback quickly silenced by Luis Arizpe’s 80-yard touchdown return of the ensuing kick off.

He took the ball, bolted for the right sideline and didn’t have a defender come close after the first 10 yards of the return.

Tyler Maxville’s extra point kick pushed the Tiger lead to 35-0.

“The 80-yard TD return really gave us the momentum back,” said Commerce head coach Willie Ng.

“I was a little bit surprised,” said the Tiger coach. “I thought that the game would be a little tougher, a little closer than the score. Our offense just really clicked. Things really fell into place and we spread the wealth around a little bit. The kids played well.”

Commerce got the final tally of the night late in the third quarter after Riverton went for a fourth down conversion in their own territory.

The ball flew over the quarterback Spriggs’ head, giving the Tigers the ball on the Ram 24-yard line.

It took two plays to hit paydirt.

Austin McMain took the ball on a sweep play to the left for 19 yards to the Ram 5. Then Tiger quarterback Kasey Ng found Blake Witten in the end zone for the touchdown pass.

Maxville kicked the extra point to account for the final of 42-8.

“When you get up like that, they are chasing,” said coach Ng. “I was surprised that they didn’t try to throw the ball more in the second half.”

He continued, “They are athletic. They have good skill kids and some good linemen up front, but I think our size and experience just wore them down.”

Ng was pleased with the stop troops.

He said, “We made some nice adjustments and got us into the right defenses. We need to do a better job of tackling. For the most part, I thought we really played well.”

Commerce opened the scoring in the first quarter on their first possession when senior tailback Bryson Sullivan danced 10 yards into the Riverton end zone. Maxville’s boot made it 7-0.

Sullivan scored again minutes later on a 7-yard jaunt with 6:05 left in the opening period. Maxville’s kick made it 14-0.

Riverton settled down as the teams traded punts. At the end of the quarter, Commerce fumbled the ball after a 52-yard run by McMain.

The Rams had the ball at their own 12-yard line to start he second quarter.

But they didn’t have it long. Arizpe intercepted a Spriggs’ pass, giving the Tigers the ball on the 8-yard line.

After a penalty, the Tigers scored on a 13-yard pass over the middle when Ng found brother Tyler Ng all alone at the goal line.

The sophomore fell into the end zone to give Commerce a 21-0 lead after Maxville’s kick.

Commerce got the 28-0 halftime lead when Sullivan took the pitch from quarterback Ng at the Tiger 38 and hit Arizpe at the Ram 4-yard line on a flea flicker pass.

McMain bulled over for the touchdown on the next play and Maxville added the extra point.

Commerce (3-0) now faces winless Ketchum for their homecoming contest this Friday night. The Warriors had upset CHS 13-6 last season.

"I’m not going to have to do a lot of motivating this week," Ng said.

Kick off is at 7:30 for the Tigers first district contest.