The 2015 football jamboree answered a lot of questions for Republic football coach Wes Beachler. He liked some of the answers more than others.
The Tigers met three other teams–Lebanon, Mt. Vernon, and Neosho–at Mt. Vernon Friday night. Each team got a set number of plays on offense and defense against the other opponents. Beachler says his coaches and players went into the night with a script, and they stuck to it.
“There were things we could have done off script, but we wanted to see some plays. We have questions marks right now at some positions, and we wanted to put some guys in those positions to see what they could do–some good, some okay, some need some work,” Beachler says.
The Tigers played without a handful of players, including all-state lineman Skyler Hale, who will be in the lineup next Friday for the opener at Sedalia Smith-Cotton.
“Skyler Hale didn’t have enough practices to play tonight,” Beachler says. “When he’s back, our entire offensive line will be elevated. He is an absolute monster on the offensive line.”
Despite Hale’s absence, Beachler says the offensive line did a good job of opening up the inside running game.
“We ran our base stuff and didn’t really set it up, so that was encouraging,” Beachler says of the interior runs. “I was pleased with the way the middle opened up.”
Like all jamborees, the coaching staff is left with questions in some areas heading into Week 1.
“I’m not going to say position wise, but there were a few positions that we had concerns about on each side of the ball, and we still have those concerns,” he says. “Some questions were answered, not the way we wanted them to be answered.”
The Tigers have one more week to find some of those answers. They travel to Sedalia to meet Smith-Cotton next Friday night. Republic Tiger Sports will have the broadcast starting with the Hines Street Pharmacy Football Pregame Show at 6:45 p.m.