Nabil El-Amin rushed for a career-high 194 yards and scored two touchdowns to lead the Texas A&M University-Commerce Lions to a 27-15 victory over the East Central Tigers in the inaugural Harvey Martin Classic on Saturday afternoon at the Cotton Bowl.

A&M-Commerce improves to 4-4 overall and 2-1 in Lone Star Conference North Division play, and takes its all-time Cotton Bowl record to a perfect 7-0. East Central drops to 2-6 overall and 1-1 in Lone Star Conference North Division action.

Statistically, the game was nearly even as ECU outgained A&M-Commerce by a 389 to 388 margin. The A&M-Commerce attack was led by the 194 yards from El-Amin and quarterback Terry Mayo threw for 130 through the air. An integral part of the Lions win was a defense that recorded 15 tackles for loss including eight sacks and forced five turnovers.

Tigers' quarterback Marcus Johnson completed 26 of 51 passes for 311 yards and two touchdowns; however, he was sacked by the A&M-Commerce defense seven times in the loss. Despite the loss, Johnson is now the all-time passing leader in ECU history with 4,688 yards to eclipse the previous mark of Luke Hackbarth, who had 4,570 yards.  

After the coin toss that featured honorary captains - Harvey Martin's mother, Helen, son, DeVincent and daughter, Chase and A&M-Commerce Hall of Fame coach Ernest Hawkins, the Lions forced a Tiger punt, and scored on their first possession as Mayo hit wide receiver Willie Thornton on a 30-yard touchdown strike to take the early 7-0 advantage. The score capped a seven play, 68-yard drive and was Thornton's ninth touchdown of the season.

East Central pulled within when wide receiver Quade Soffel caught a 30-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to cut the A&M-Commerce lead to 7-6. On the ensuing extra-point attempt, the Lions' Marcus Graham blocked extra point to preserve the A&M-Commerce advantage.  

After trailing 7-6 at the halftime break, East Central went ahead on 41-yard field goal by Corey Dozier that culminated an 11 play, 47-yard drive. The Lions had an answer on the strength of four runs by El-Amin and a key third-down conversion on a 28-yard reception by Ernest Quander. A&M-Commerce went back in front when Mayo ran it in from 10 yards to put the Lions back in front for good, 13-9.

Three plays, the Lions forced its fourth turnover of the contest as Alonzo Meinfield hit ECU wide receiver Ryan McGuire and Alex Contreras raced 32 yards with the loose ball. On the next play, El-Amin scored his first of two touchdowns on a 33-yard run to put A&M-Commerce up by a 20-9 margin.

A&M-Commerce added to its lead in the fourth quarter on a 10-yard run by El-Amin. He set the stage with a 33-yard run to set up first and goal for the Lions. Next, he ran it in from 10 yards out to extend the A&M-Commerce lead to 27-9.

A touchdown on the final play of regulation as Johnson completed a nine-yard pass to Justin Heimer closed out the scoring as the Lions defeat the Tigers by a 27-15 margin. It is the seventh win by A&M-Commerce in the last 10 meetings. 

The Lions will be idle, next weekend, before returning to Memorial Stadium for its final two home games. A&M-Commerce will host Southeastern Oklahoma State for its annual homecoming tilt on Saturday, November 1^st. In that contest, the Lions will be wearing throwback uniforms and ET decals.