Republic’s offense racked up 23 first downs and 376 total yards, but couldn’t translate those yards into points in a 28-12 home loss to Branson. Most of the Tigers’ drives were snuffed out by the Branson defense short of the goal line, and the Pirates got just enough big plays of their own to grab a COC road victory from the Tigers.
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Jace DuVall led the Tigers with 117 yards and a touchdown on seven carries. James Desjardins had 86 yards on 18 carries. Josh Vaughn added four receptions for 42 yards.
For Branson, it was big plays by their talented backfield that made the difference. The Pirates broke on top when Jordan Bailey went 54 yards for a touchdown with 5:43 left in the first quarter.
“When you have speed and athletes, they’re going to turn broken plays or nothing into cutback touchdowns, and that happened twice tonight,” says Republic coach Wes Beachler.
The Tigers moved the ball on their next drive, as they did all night, but they stalled out in the red zone, and the Pirates took over on their own 11. After a missed field goal by Branson, Republic drove back into the red zone again — and again failed to put points on the board when three passes fell incomplete at the goal line as time ran out in the half.
In the 3rd quarter, Branson quickly scored again. Bailey scored his second touchdown on a 31-yard run to make the score 14-0.
But Republic answered quickly. On the ensuing drive, Jace Duvall took the ball 57 yards to the end zone to cut the lead to 14-6. The extra point attempt was no good.
On Branson’s next drive, James Desjardins intercepted a pass from Da’Quan Ervin and the Tigers were in business. Quarterback Zach Hall ran the ball inside the Branson 20, then threw a touchdown pass to Jacob Dickens. The 2-point conversion was no good, and the score was 14-12 Branson.
The key play in the game happened in the 4th quarter, when Branson faced a 4th and goal, and Republic’s defense looked poised to get a stop. Isaiah Daniels was hit twice outside the end zone, but kept pushing forward and reached the ball over the goal line for the score. That put Branson up 21-12.
Republic threatened again, but couldn’t get the ball into the end zone, and a late score by Branson made the score 28-12, which was the final.
“I think we had some tackling issues. We have to get better at tackling,” Beachler says. “Even some of our better tacklers ended up on the ground a lot, grabbing feet. And when you grab a good running back’s feet, he’s going to pull that foot out and keep going. We’ve got to run through tackles a little better.”
The Tigers fall to 2-3 this season. Next up is Carthage at home, for homecoming, next Friday.
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