By Levi Payton

sports@joplinglobe.com

WYANDOTTE, Okla. — The Commerce Tigers opened their season with an impressive 44-0 triumph against Wyandotte on Thursday night.

Early in the first quarter it appeared the Bears would be the aggressors. However, the tide turned when the Tigers found the end zone first.

In his first three carries Tigers fullback Mikey Morgan ran for touchdowns of 5 and 4 yards.

Tailback Josh Pilkinton provided a big-play threat. Pilkinton accumulated 155 total yards and a pair of scores. He ran for 83 yards on 10 carries in the first half, but his biggest play came when he hauled in a 40-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Joey Bowling as time expired in the second quarter to send the Tigers to the break with a 21-0 margin.

The pass to Pilkinton was the only one completed by Bowling in the first half. However, Bowling connected on 6-of-9 throws in the second, including an eight-yard strike to Dusty Williams to make it 28-0.

“We thought we were going to come out and grind it at them on the ground,” Tigers coach Willie Ng said. “But the way they were lining up, we just started throwing (short passes) and it worked.”

Commerce went into the fourth leading 30-0 after recording a safety when Wyandotte recovered its own fumble in the end zone late in the third quarter. Pilkinton added a three-yard scamper in the fourth, and Ryan Nowlin returned a punt 69 yards for the game’s final score.

Pilkinton finished with 96 yards rushing on 16 attempts and 59 yards on four receptions.

“The kids played hard tonight,” Ng said. “I can’t say enough about them.”

Commerce 7 14 16 14—44

Wyandotte 0 0 0 0 — 0

Com— Mikey Morgan 5 yard run (Zach Barnes kick)

Com— Morgan 4 yard run (Barnes kick)