Published: Saturday, November 14, 2009 9:08 AM CST

COMMERCE — Ridding themselves of a year-long bad taste after a loss to Hominy in the Class A first round, the Commerce High School Tigers gained a huge measure of redemption Friday night with a 32-31 double overtime victory against the Woodland Cougars.

"It had been 365 days with a bad taste in our mouths and we got rid of that tonight," a teary-eyed Commerce head coach Willie Ng said. "This was a great football game by two great football teams and I can't say enough about how hard our kids have worked and they deserved to win this game.

"There was no quit in these kids," Ng said. "They worked their butts off all week and they came out and played their butts off from first play to last." Speaking of the final play, Woodland head coach Trent Worley called a time out after the Cougars scored on a 10-yard run by junior tailback Tommy Hillsberg to create a 32-31 one-point deficit.

After the time out, the Cougars gave the ball to Hillsberg again for a two-point conversion run try.

But Commerce linebackers senior Mikey Morgan and junior Bryson Sullivan grabbed Hillsberg at the 1-yard line and denied the 6-0, 200-pound running back access to the endzone.

"We knew they were going to run the ball — it was their bread-and-butter play," Ng said. "We knew it was coming and we made the play. All week long we told our kids, 'big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games' and that's exactly what happened."

After a scoreless first quarter, Commerce put together a methodical 74-yard, 10-play drive that consumed more than six minutes. The Tiger offense generated four first downs as quarterback Joey Bowling completed two 8-yard passes to Kasey Ng and kept for 11 yards.

Sullivan, who gained 26 yards on six carries, culminated the drive with a four-yard touchdown run at the 9:39 juncture of the second quarter. Bowling's extra point gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead.

Woodland responded with a 59-yard drive of its own on the next possession. Sophomore running back Willie Zachery ignited the drive with a 15-yard run to the Tigers 20-yard line. Commerce was penalized for a horsecollar tackle at the end of the play to give the Cougars a first-and-goal at the Tigers 4-yard line.

Zackery scored from 4  yards out to cut the deficit to 7-6 with 5:37 until halftime. The two-point conversion run by Zackery was stopped.

Less than 30 seconds later, the Cougars grabbed the lead as senior cornerback Michael Ben stepped in front of an errant Bowling pass and returned it 36 yards for a touchdown. Quarterback Ben Goodeagle failed to connect with Hillsberg on the two-point conversion pass as the Cougars held a 12-7 lead at the 5:10 juncture.

"From the opening kickoff we were playing smash-mouth football," Ng said. "If you take away the interception return, we go into the locker room with a 10-6 lead."

Consuming four minutes the Tigers marched 56 yards in seven plays before Bowling nailed a 27-yard field goal to produce a 12-10 halftime deficit.

During the third quarter the Tigers missed an opportunity to regain the lead after Morgan had a 44-yard punt return for a touchdown erased by a holding call.

Neither team put points on the board during the third quarter.

The Cougars relied on the running of Zackery, Hillsberg and Travis Taylor to carry them 56 yards in eight plays during the first three minutes of the fourth quarter.

Hillsberg burst off left tackle for a 5-yard touchdown run with 8:55 left in regulation play. However, Hillsberg's extra point attempt into a brisk southeasterly wind sailed wide left to give Woodland an 18-10 margin.

"I knew when they missed that extra point that we were destined to win this game," Ng said. "Our offense rose to the occasion and we were able to tie the game four minutes later.

Starting at their own 20-yard line, the Tigers received four runs for 25 yards by Sullivan and three carries by Austin McMain for 16 yards to move to Woodland's 38-yard line.

Bowling took the snap and found Morgan wide open down the middle of the field for a 38-yard TD pass with 4:16 showing on the clock. A pass from Bowling to Tyler Maxville produced an 18-18 tie.

Woodland won the coin toss to start the first overtime period. A 5-yard run by Patrick Bartlett and a 5-yard touchdown run by Taylor along with Hillsberg's extra point gave the Cougars a 25-18 lead.

Commerce needed three plays to score from the 10-yard line. After Sullivan lost 2 yards on the first play, Bowling hit Morgan on a 10-yard pass play.

The Bowling-to-Sullivan combo clicked for a 2-yard touchdown pass before Bowling kicked the point-after for a 25-25 tie.

Morgan dashed off left tackle for a 10-yard Tiger touchdown on the first play of the second overtime. Bowling's PAT set up the dramatic finish.

Sullivan led the Commerce ground game with 135 yards on 30 carries as the Tigers rushed for 166 yards on 50 attempts.

Bowling completed 7 of 13 passes for 73 yards and one touchdown with one interception.

Defensively, the Tigers limited Woodland to 176 yards in total offense.

McMain led the Commerce defense with eight solo tackles and five assists while linebacker Braden Smith made seven solo stops and five assists. Noseguard Carlos Ybarra contributed seven tackles and four assists.

Zackery rushed for 48 yards on 13 carries as the Cougars gained 164 yards on 43 carries on the ground.

Goodeagle managed only 1 of 4 passes for a meager 12 yards.

Commerce advances to next Friday's second round with a 9-2 record while Woodland finishes with a 7-4 mark.

The Tigers travel to southeastern Oklahoma to face Class A fifth-ranked Talihina at 7:30 p.m. Talihina is 11-0 on the year after shutting out Wynnewood 46-0 Friday night.

Commerce 32, Woodland 31 (2OT)

Woodland    0    12    0    6    7    6 — 31

Commerce    0    10    0    8    7    7 — 32

Scoring summary

Second quarter

CHS — Sullivan 4 run (Bowling kick), 9:39

WHS — Zackery 4 run (run failed), 5:37

WHS — Ben 36 interception return (pass failed), 5:10

CHS — FG 27, Bowling, 1:11

Fourth quarter

WHS — Hillsberg 5 run (kick failed), 8:55

CHS — Morgan 38 pass from Bowling (Maxville pass from Bowling), 4:16

First overtime

WHS — Taylor 5 run (Hillsberg kick)

CHS — Sullivan 2 pass from Bowling (Bowling kick)

Second overtime

CHS — Morgan 10 run (Bowling kick)

WHS — Hillsberg 10 run (run failed)

Team statistics

    WHS    CHS

First downs    12    15

Rushes-yards    43-164    52-166

Passing yards    12    73

Return yards    48    22

Passes-com-att-int    1-4-0    7-13-1

Punts-avg    4-40    4-36.5

Fumbles-lost    1-1    1-0

Penalties-yards    6-30    9-68

Individual statistics

Rushing — Woodland, Zackery 13-48, Hillsberg 10-35, Goodeagle 9-32, Taylor 7-23, Bartlett 3-21. Commerce, Sullivan 30-135, Morgan 3-21, Bowling 6-10.

Passing — Woodland, Goodeagle 1-4-0-12. Commerce, Bowling 7-13-1-73.

Receiving — Woodland, Ben 1-12. Commerce, Morgan 2-48, Kasey Ng 2-16, Sullivan 2-4, Arizpe 1-5.