In December, Texas A&M-Commerce fended off West Florida, 37-27, to win the school's first Division II national championship. The Lions went 14-1 on the year, winning their first three playoff games on the road -- at No. 12 Winona State, at No. 7 Central Washington and at No. 1 Minnesota State-Mankato -- before running through Harding in the semifinals and West Florida in the title game.
The city of Commerce honored Lions head coach Colby Carthel on Wednesday, and the token of appreciation given to Carthel makes all sorts of sense coming from a city of less than 10,000 people in northeast Texas.
