For about five minutes, it looked like Friday night’s game would be another high-scoring battle between Republic and Carthage. After that, there wasn’t much for Republic fans to cheer for.
Carthage whipped Republic on both sides of the ball, running away for a 34-7 victory on Republic’s homecoming night. The visitors rolled up 445 total yards of offense, 421 of them on the ground. Kendall Young and Trey Collins both rushed for over 100 yards for Carthage.
The Carthage defense shut down Republic’s high-octane rushing attack, holding the Tigers to only 202 total yards. Riley Watkins carried the ball 17 times for 94 yards, but the other Republic backs were a non-factor. Jerney Jones rushed the ball 10 times for only 27 yards.
“They just flat dominated us,” says coach Wes Beachler. “I hear people talk about how they’re a finesse team–(how) they just kind of screen and shield. They kicked our butt from the word go. If I’m a finesse team, I’m going to hate to see Willard…and Nixa and teams like that. They kicked our butt and we just didn’t play very well.”
Part of Republic’s trouble was self-inflicted. The Tigers had 11 penalties for more than 80 yards, many of them for holding or illegal procedure.
“I don’t know how many times, on a first and ten, we had a first down run that got called back because of a fast start, an illegal procedure, or a holding. That just gets real doggone old. It’s pretty hard to call plays when you’re constantly calling first and 15 or first and 20,” Beachler says.
After being stopped on their opening drive, Republic surrendered a quick touchdown, falling behind Carthage 7-0. But as it had done in previous games, Republic punched back quickly. The Tigers drove the ball 73 yards on only three plays, scoring on a 45-yard touchdown pass from Riley Watkins to Jerney Jones. It evened the score 7-7, and it was the Yocum Automotive Drive of the Game.
The penalties will be a focus of Beachler and the coaching stuff during practice as the team prepares for its next game.
“We’ll take care of that this week. We may not be worth a rat’s rear end next week, but we’ll take care of the jumping and stuff because we’re going to pay a price for every time we jumped tonight,” he says.
Early in the game, Republic looked like it would go toe-to-toe with Carthage. The visitors scored first, after stopping Republic on downs. Carthage took over on its own 45 yard line and drove 55 yards in ten plays to score first. A one-yard touchdown run by Kendall Young put Carthage on top 7-0.
Republic responded immediately. It took the Tigers just three plays to drive 73 yards. They scored on a 45-yard pass from Riley Watkins to Jerney Jones, and with 4:52 left in the first quarter, the game was tied 7-7.
After both offenses stumbled on their next few possessions, Carthage finally broke through again. They took over with just over seven minutes left in the half, marched 74 yards in nine plays, and took a 14-7 lead with 4:31 on the clock.
The second half was all Carthage. They scored on their opening drive to make it 21-7 when Young broke a 43-yard touchdown run. Duasen Gourley scored on a seven-yard run to make it 28-7, and Young scored again from 18 yards out for the final touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Republic falls to 3-3 overall. The Tigers travel to Willard next week. Willard is coming off a 42-0 loss to Webb City.