COMMERCE, Okla. — Logan Cawyer took over the head coaching role of the Commerce High School football team four years ago after spending three years as an assistant under Steve Moss.
Cawyer was a 2006 graduate of Commerce High School and spent some time coaching at Miami High School, coached a little college football and then made his way back to being a Tiger again in 2018.
“It’s always good to come back home. I was blessed to learn under coach Steve Moss. He was one of the coaches when I was in high school,” Cawyer said. “He was the head coach here when I came back seven years ago.”
The four-year head coach has now gotten to see his first group of freshmen become seniors, and he has two of them as leaders on the field this year.
“These guys that were freshmen when I started, I’ve seen some of the grow up, I’ve seen some of them quit, some of them stay with it,” Cawyer said. “We have six seniors, we have one new one, but the five that have been here the whole time, it’s a bond we can create in small towns and hopefully it’s a bond we share for our whole lives.”
Seniors Gracen Shelton and Camden Poteet are two of the player-named captains on the Commerce team this fall. Shelton plays quarterback while Poteet plays on the defensive and offensive lines.
Another captain on the team is junior linebacker and running back Landon Brunner. Brunner was actually selected by the coaching staff because of his excellent offseason.
“He was 100% (attendance) this offseason. He put in the work. Not necessarily led out loud, kind of led by example,” Cawyer said. “He carried a full-time job pretty much the whole summer — just seeing him put in the work and commit himself to the team.”
Each one talked about the opportunity to lead and what it means to them.
“It means a lot. There’s a lot of school pride here, and its fun to lead,” Shelton said.
“It’s pretty special. I don’t think you get it at any other school. It’s kind of a brotherhood. We’ve all played together for quite awhile,” Poteet added.
“It’s important to me because I really enjoy the sport, and I take a lot of my emotions to the field and I like to keep everyone pumped up and stuff,” Brenner said.
Poteet extends his responsibility as a captain to things beyond the football field. He tries to set an example throughout the school day as well. He said he tries to teach the younger group “not to be doing dumb stuff.” The senior lineman noted grades as being important to setting an example as well.
Part of that is to show leadership in the classroom by “not being a jerk” to teachers. That also includes not reacting to smack talk after a play but just letting his aggression during the play do the talking.
When it comes to his seniors, coach Cawyer sees different styles of leaders on the field.
“Gracen is kind of that intellectual leader. People have questions, they go to Gracen,” Cawyer said. “Camden sets the tone with physicality. He’s a three-year starter on the offensive line. If we can count on anyone to run behind, it’s Camden.”
Each one of these athletes exemplify Tiger Pride in their own way. That’s something Cawyer has tried to continue since rejoining the Tigers’ football program.
He believes his dad, Chris, and coach Rick Trimble started that Tiger Pride slogan and the traditions behind the football program back in 1990, Cawyer believes. He added that the community and athletes buy into the thought of “playing with Tiger Pride.”
The community is a part of that Tiger Pride to some of the players as well.
“Everyone comes out on Friday nights. It feels like the whole town’s out there watching you,” Poteet said.
“I think we have one of the best communities,” Brunner added.
Speaking of coach Cawyer’s dad and his time at Commerce as a coach, he was the defensive coordinator at CHS when Cawyer was in school. His return in 2018 was mostly because of his dad still being around the area.
When the former Division I football player from Tulsa University came back to be be a Tiger, his dad was coaching at Quapaw High School just up the road. One thing he wanted was to be able to coach alongside his dad one day.
“We were fortunate enough to get that chance when I took over in ’21. … He was coaching with us the last three years,” Cawyer said. “That was really one of the main reasons I came back, to have that bond and that relationship with him and see what it was all about.”
He spoke about many things he learned from mentors and coaches before him and even from his dad about the defensive part of the game. But one thing that really stuck with him about his dad was how to build relationships with athletes.
“Seeing him being personable with the kids and building those relationships, that’s one thing I took from him is trying to get those relationships,” Cawyer said.
ABOUT THE TEAM
Commerce is off to a 2-0 start with wins over Fairland (37-9) and Oklahoma Union (28-24). The Tigers have been led by the running game and the production from Keylen White. White has 289 rushing yards in two games and four touchdowns.
Shelton has thrown for 189 yards, two touchdowns and one interception on 10-of-21 passing.
Braxton Wright adds 124 rushing yards and two touchdowns. He also has two catches for 70 yards and another touchdown. Brice Busby has four catches for 66 yards and a score.
The Tigers are facing nearby rival Quapaw (0-2) on Friday night. Poteet talked about the importance of taking down the Warriors.
“I want to whoop them one more time. They’ve gotten us the past couple years, but I want to end my career whoopin’ them one more time,” Poteet said.
