COMMERCE – In a game that came down to the final play from just two yards away from the goal line, Tarleton State dropped another last-second heartbreaker 56-49 in the first round of the LSC Football Playoffs to Texas A&M-Commerce.
 
After the Tarleton defense forced a punt trailing by a touchdown, the Texan offense – led by sophomore Zed Woerner, who was making his record-setting first collegiate start – was give possession on its own 15-yard line with 1:07 left on the clock.
 
The sophomore QB completed his first pass to Clifton Rhodes III for 24 yards and then another to LeNard Meyers for 11 yards out of bounds to set up shop at the Commerce 45-yard line.
 
After an incompletion that stopped the clock, Woerner hit Meyers again for 22 yards and a first down at the Lion 23-yard line. Tarleton kept the clock stopped with an incompletion on the next play, which led to a Commerce timeout.
 
Out of the break, Tarleton moved down the to two-yard line with a roughing the passer penalty and a defensive pass interference call to set up the final play of the game. However, the Tarleton run play was stopped for no gain to secure the second straight loss for the Texans.
 
The final possession was the culmination of a hard-fought battle between these two rivals, which scored early and often throughout the course of this game.
 
In a foreshadowing of what would ultimately be the final play of the game, Tarleton got on the board first in the opening quarter of the game on a two-yard run from Zach Henshaw just 3:56 into the contest.
 
After Commerce answered with a 55-yard strike to even the score in the first quarter, Tarleton took the lead on the final possession of the opening quarter when Woerner hit Bubba Tandy for a 36-yard touchdown for a 14-7 lead.
 
The Lions evened things up with another big play – a 46-yard pass to cap off a 5-play 68-yard drive – to tie things up at 14-14.
 
Tarleton would continue to trade haymakers, however, as the Texans scored a pair of second-quarter touchdowns on a two-yard run from Woerner and a 24-yard pass to Meyers to counter the two touchdowns for Commerce to send the Texans into halftime with a 28-21 lead.
 
The Lions pulled away out of halftime with four straight touchdowns – one of them with a failed point after – for 27 unanswered points on a five-yard pass, an 80-yard field goal block for a score, a 10-yard run and a 77-yard bomb that put Tarleton in a 48-28 deficit.
 
The Texans continued to scratch and claw their way back with three unanswered touchdowns on touchdown runs by Henshaw and Jabari Anderson and a 10-yard catch from Tandy to give the Texans a 49-48 lead with 8:24 left in the game.
 
Commerce punched it in for the final time on a seven-yard run and a two-point conversion with 4:07 left in the game. Tarleton was forced to punt on the next possession before the defense stood strong to give the Texans one final chance on the final drive.
 
As a team, Tarleton State totaled rushed for 196 yards in the game on 42 carries and threw for 470 yards in the air on 41-57 passing.
 
On the ground, Henshaw led the way with 112 yards on 21 carries and two scores while Anderson added 66 yards on 11 carries with a touchdown. Woerner had the other rushing score and finished with 19 yards on seven carries.
 
In his first career start under center, Woerner was 41-57 for a school-record 470 yards and three touchdowns. His 470 yards is the eighth 400-yard game in school history and tops Jake Fenske's mark of 460 yards against Southeastern Oklahoma last season.
 
Meyers and Tandy each topped 100 yards in receiving yards while Rhodes III just missed with 91 yards on seven receptions. Meyers led the team with 145 yards on 15 catches while Tandy posted 134 yards on seven catches.
 
Defensively, Tarleton had a trio of Texans lead the way with eight tackles each. Defensive ends Anthony Gonzales and Damien Ward were two of the three while Marc Martinez was the other leader.
 
Defensive backs Charles Moore and DeAntrey Loche each recorded interceptions for the Texans. For Moore, it was his team-leading fifth pick of the season.
 
Tarleton State will play in the third-place game next Saturday at either Midwestern State or Angelo State.