Republic pulled away from a pesky Branson team for a 42-20 win at home in Central Ozark Conference play Friday night in Republic. The Tigers got 200 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns from Jerney Jones, and they scored 28 second-half points to pull away.
Sophomore quarterback Riley Watkins turned in another big game, rushing for 153 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. He also completed four of eight passes for 37 yards and a touchdown.
It looked like the Tigers might put the game away early when they took the opening kickoff and marched 73 yards in three plays. Jones ran 39 yards for a touchdown and the Tigers led 7-0 less than a minute into the game.
They stopped Branson on the next drive and looked poised to score again, but a Branson defender stripped the ball out of Jones’ hands as he headed to the goal line for a second score. Branson jumped on the ball in the end zone and forestalled the impending rout.
“We didn’t have a great week in practice, and that kind of showed after that first drive,” says Watkins. “We got that first TD and I think we kind of died down a little bit. We’ve to to learn to keep grinding onto that.”
The Tigers didn’t score again until late in the second quarter. With 1:22 left in the half, Watkins got free and scampered 30 yards to pay dirt, capping a three-play drive to make it 14-0.
Republic came out much sharper in the second half, after what coach Wes Beachler called an “attitude adjustment” at halftime.
“I think we just came out a little flat and we had to check and see where we were,” he says. “So we adjusted our attitudes and played a better half.”
Republic extended the lead on their first drive of the third quarter. The Tigers went 61 yards on six plays in 1:56 and Watkins ran it in from nine yards out. Watkins also took a bad snap on the extra-point attempt and ran into the end zone for a two-point conversion to make it 22-0.
Branson finally got on the board with 4:29 left in the third quarter when Zac Funderburk ran it into the end zone from one yard out. That made the Tiger lead 22-7.
Republic responded on the very next drive, marching 65 yards in 10 plays. They scored when Riley Watkins tossed a pass to Skyler Owen in the end zone. The ball tipped off Owen’s hands, flew over the outstretched arms of the Branson defender, and landed in the open arms of Cooper Powell in the back of the end zone. The Tigers led 29-7.
“That’s not quite how it’s supposed to work in the playbook, but that’s how it worked out tonight,” says Watkins. “It was the luck of the draw I guess.”
Branson scored again on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Funderburk to Chad Utzman. They missed the extra point, and it was 29-13.
The Pirates had grabbed a bit of momentum with their first touchdown, cutting the Tiger lead to 22-7 in the third quarter. But Republic wasn’t about to let Branson back into the game. The Tigers took over on their own 35 yard line and punched the ball down the field in ten plays, ending with a touchdown pass from Riley Watkins to Cooper Powell. The score extended Republic’s lead to 29-7, and the drive was the Yocum Automotive Drive of the Game.
On the next Tiger possession, they went 59 yards in two plays. Jerney Jones romped 53 yards to pay dirt and the lead was 35-13 after a missed extra point.
Republic’s defense got a stop and the Tigers scored again on a fifth consecutive possession. Zach Dickens–leaving the fullback position temporarily and setting up in Jones’ usual spot in the formation–ran it in from two yards out with 8:00 left in the game, making it 42-13.
“(Dickens) never asked to get the ball,” says coach Wes Beachler. “We thought it would be a good idea to let him score some, because he’s played glorified guard/fullback for three years. It might not be so easy to do if he wasn’t so unselfish and so caught up in Republic football. It’s easy to give him opportunities like that because he does this for the right reasons.”
Branson scored one last time on a pass from Funderburk to Karson Knudsen, accounting for the final margin.
Republic ended the game with 494 total yards. Branson had 332. Beachler says he was generally happy with the way his defense played.
“I was a little frustrated with third-and-medium and third-and-long, but I thought overall, we played pretty well. We’re still flying to the ball pretty well,” he says. “We’re still better defensively than we’ve been, and we’ll keep getting better, I believe.”
The Tigers improve to 3-2. Branson falls to 0-5.
Republic is home next week against Carthage, a team that beat the Tigers on a last-second pass in Carthage last season. It’s homecoming for Republic. We’ll have the live broadcast starting with the Hines Street Pharmacy Pre-game Show at 6:45.
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