Friday was a night of missed opportunities for Republic. Three times, the Tigers drove the ball inside the Ozark 10-yard line without scoring, and that made the difference in a 14-7 loss on the road.
Republic’s defense was as good as it’s been all season, keeping the Tigers in the game, even as the offense sputtered.
“I’m very proud of their effort,” coach Dustin Baldwin says of the defense. “Obviously, had the 90-yard drive at the end of the game, but overall, kept us in it and allowed us to have an opportunity at the end.”
Both teams struggled to move the ball all night, but Ozark book-ended its offensive futility with a pair of scores. They opened the game with a 14-play drive that went 65 yards and ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Danny Carr. The drive started controversially after Ozark appeared to fumble the opening kickoff and Republic believed it had recovered the ball. The officials awarded the ball to Ozark, setting up their first score.
Republic threatened to even the score twice before halftime. The Tigers moved the ball inside the Ozark 20, but Riley Watkins threw an interception in the end zone that ended the drive. On its next possession, Republic pushed the ball to the Ozark 3-yard line, threw an incomplete pass into the end zone, then missed a field goal as time expired in the half.
In the 2nd half, Republic had four possessions. Its first ended with a fumble, and its second ended with a punt. On its third drive, Republic had 1st and goal at the 7-yard line, but failed to score again and turned it over on downs.
On the very next drive, Ozark took the ball 93 yards in 17 plays, consuming 8:13 on the clock. Ozark scored its second touchdown on a seven-yard run by Preston Carson, making the score 14-0, and appearing to put the game away. But for the second straight week, Republic mounted a late charge.
Republic scored on a 7-yard pass from Watkins to Blake Hulland with 2:25 left in the 4th quarter, cutting the lead to 14-7.
Ozark got the ball back intending to run out the clock, and for the second time, an apparent fumble situation went against Republic. The ball came loose on a 2nd-and-7 for Ozark, and a Republic player came out of the pile with the ball — but none of the officials signaled a fumble had occurred. Ozark kept the ball and ran out the clock to claim the victory.
Baldwin says mistakes on the offensive side of the ball were Republic’s worst enemy.
“The only thing that stopped us the entire game was us,” he says. “Our kids made a lot of mistakes. Penalties, a couple turnovers–that’s what was stopping our drives. It wasn’t that we weren’t getting ten yards. So that was frustrating.”
The inefficiency near the goal line killed Republic’s chances, even when it moved the ball against Ozark’s defense and put itself in position to score.
“It’s not good, and we certainly have to re-evaluate our red zone play calling,” Baldwin says. “We thought we had some things we liked, and we weren’t able to execute them. It’s not like we didn’t game plan for those situations. We did. It just didn’t work out.”
Watkins ended the game with 12 completions in 28 attempts for 154 yards. He threw one touchdown and one interception. He also ran for 55 yards on nine carries. Jaden Duvall was Republic’s leading receiver with five catches for 61 yards. Hulland caught four catches for 35 yards and a touchdown. Jake Jones had one catch for 26 yards, Brady Coggin had a 26-yard reception, and Trent Rackley made one seven-yard reception.
“I love our kids. I love our effort tonight. There’s nothing wrong with our effort,” Baldwin says. “They want to win as bad as I do. We just have to make plays when it counts, and we didn’t do that tonight.”
Republic falls to 1-4. Ozark improves to 3-2. Republic is back home against Neosho next week.
