The first snap of the game went over the head of quarterback Jake Smith, and things never got much better for Republic. Willard took advantage of the fumble to score a quick touchdown, blocked a punt two possessions later and scored again, then took the ball 58 yards on their next drive. Just like that, it was 21-0.
Republic got on the board when Mitchell Heinzler kicked a 33-yard field goal to cut the lead to 21-3, but Willard responded with another long drive. They went 64 yards in ten plays to extend their lead to 28-3 by halftime.
Willard racked up 298 yards of total offense, led by Hunter Yeargen’s 150 yards. Robert Richmond had 90 yards, and quarterback Kyle Smith rushed for 44. Smith also completed two of six passes for 86 yards. One completion went to Corbin White, and another to Ethan Bureson.
Coach Wes Beachler says his team couldn’t overcome a slow start, similar to games against Marshfield and Branson, but against a better opponent this week.
“We came out flat against Marshfield. We came out flat against Branson. We came out flat tonight and we couldn’t overcome it,” he says. “We didn’t play well in any aspect of our game. Like I told them, you’ve got two options. You can either sit around and pout and belly-ache and complain, or you can step up, be a man, deal with adversity, come back and play a whale of a game next week. That’s your two choices, so hopefully they pick the right one.”
Willard’s defense did something most teams haven’t been able to do this year: slow down Republic’s offense. Jace DuVall led the Tigers with 70 rushing yards on 11 carries. Jerney Jones ran for 66 yards on 13 carries. Smith ran the ball 18 times for 67 yards. The Tigers had 209 rushing yards total.
Smith was 4-of-8 passing the ball for 61 yards.
Yocum Automotive Drive of the Game
Republic didn’t sustain much offense Friday night, but it showed signs of life early in the second half. The Tigers took the ball 75 yards on eight plays and scored their only touchdown of the game on a nine-yard run by Jake Smith. The drive also included a 25-yard run by Smith and a 30-yard run by Jace DuVall, on back-to-back plays.
“They’re physical and they’re a strong group,” Beachler says of the Willard defense. “We’re still not where we need to be physically, in my opinion, as far as weight training. We’ll keep working on that. We need the kids there all summer again next year, and we need to keep working and getting a lot stronger. I think we just didn’t play well at the start and couldn’t find a groove there. We found it a little bit at the start of the second half, then we stalled out.”
Next up for Republic — an improving Neosho team on the road next week.
“Obviously, we’re going to have to use this to get better. Our goal now is to beat Neosho, then beat Nixa, and get the #1 seed in the district, and hopefully come through our district and get another chance to play Willard possibly. It’s going to be up to these young men how hard they want to work to get back to that point,” Beachler says.
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