Lions lose late to East Central

A 37-yard field goal from East Central University with one second left on the clock gave the Tigers a 36-33 win over A&M-Commerce last Saturday. The win also gave ECU a share of their first ever Lone Star Conference North Division title with Northeastern State University.

The kick came after a four play 32-yard drive by the Tigers, set up by a short kickoff by A&M-Commerce, which gave the visitors the ball at about midfield.

"I'm very proud of this young team," East Central Head Coach Tim McCarty said. "They hung in there with last year's, and I'm very thankful for them. We overcame a lot. The pressure to win for this crew, it's not pressure, because they've had to do it every week."

ECU started the game on top, answering Lions junior running back Marcus Graham's 3-yard touchdown run in the first quarter with 24 points of their own in the first half. After the first 37-yard field goal from junior kicker Matt Berrey, junior wide receiver Chris Espinoza caught the first of two touchdown passes from junior quarterback Tyler Vanderzee before a 5-yard touchdown run from senior running back John Gaines.

After all of this, the Tigers found themselves up 17-7 at the half. Espinoza had eight total catches for 121 yards on the night and led the ECU receiving corps along with junior Zack Patteson, who had seven catches for 152 yards. Vanderzee was 28-45 with two touchdowns and one interception for 435 yards on the night. The visitors were less dominant on the ground, amassing only 95 total yards on 36 carries.

Espinoza caught his second touchdown pass to kick-start a crazy second half. Senior quarterback Adam Farkes then capped a 10-play, 80-yard offensive drive by A&M-Commerce with a quarterback sneak for a 1-yard touchdown. On the extra-point attempt, sophomore kicker Ahmed Abo-Mahmood's kick was blocked by ECU and junior defensive back Austin Daniels returned it all the way to the other end of the field to give the visitors two points. With 7:52 left in the third quarter, ECU led 26-13.

On the Tigers' following drive, a short pass to Gaines was wrestled away by freshman defensive lineman Tevin Moore who went 31 yards for a touchdown to put the Lions within seven points, 26-19. The extra-point attempt was blocked again, but this time with no return.

After both teams missed field goals and had multiple offensive drives come up fruitless, the Lions caught a massive break. A pitch from Vanderzee out to Gaines went off the mark, causing a fumble, which was picked up and returned 30 yards for a touchdown by Lions senior defensive-back A.J. Billings. This extra-point was good, tying the game 26-26 to start the fourth quarter.

Both teams then scored one more touchdown, Gaines for ECU on a two-yard run and senior Julian Hayes on a 6-yard pass from Farkes, who went 17-34 for 208 yards passing on the night. Abo-Mahmood's high kick was well short of ECU's return men, allowing the visitors prime field position. After four plays to get further into Lion territory, Berrey's second field goal of the night proved much more vital.

"We waited too late to start playing, I thought," Morriss said. "Again, penalties hurt us bad, our kicking game let us down, and we just didn't make enough plays in that."

Morriss did have special praise for the seniors on what was Senior Night in the Lions' final home game of the season.

"I think they worked hard," he said. "They've bought into a new coaching staff, and they've been pretty good players and good leaders. We appreciate all they've done for our program and Texas A&M-Commerce."

A&M-Commerce will now wrap up its 2010 season with a trip to San Antonio to face Incarnate Word this Saturday at 2:00 p.m.