Republic packed the house to celebrate the opening of its new stadium at the 2018 season opener against Branson. But the Pirates capitalized on 12 Republic penalties and four Tiger turnovers to escape with a 19-13 win. Branson’s game-winning drive was set up by a Republic fumble at the 50-yard line. The Pirates drove 50 yards in eight plays, scoring when fullback Stephen Derks leaped over the pile and into the end zone with 3:17 remaining. The Branson defense held off Republic the rest of the way.
The ending spoiled a big night for the Republic community, opening its new on-campus stadium officially. About four-thousand people packed the house, with cars filling every space in the high school parking lot and lining the drive all the way to ZZ Highway. The festivities opened with a celebration that included a skydiver delivering the game ball to officials.
And the Tigers looked at first like they would punctuate the party with a victory, stopping Branson on its first drive, and promptly scoring. Republic took the lead when Jaden Duvall scored the first touchdown in the new stadium, powering into the end zone from two yards out with 6:01 left in the first quarter. That capped a seven-play, 74-yard drive, and gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead. Riley Sigman had the big play of the drive, sprinting 55 yards to set up Duvall’s touchdown.
Branson got on the board with 9:16 remaining in the second quarter, driving 51 yards in seven plays. Jay Hill scored on a two-yard run, but the extra point was no good, and Republic maintained a 7-6 lead through the end of the first half.
Republic got the ball to start the second half, and had two chances to extend the lead, but couldn’t capitalize. After Republic was forced to punt, Branson fumbled the punt return and the Tigers recovered, taking possession near mid-field. But one of three Branson interceptions ended the Republic drive again, and the Pirates scored two plays later on an 18-yard run by Hill. The two-point conversion attempt failed, and it was 12-7 Branson.
The Tigers broke back on top with 7:27 left in the game. Duvall scored his second touchdown of the night — a five-yard run — to cap a five-play, 45-yard drive. Republic missed the extra point, but led 13-12 until Branson punched home its winning score four minutes later.
“They started stemming and blitzing with their linebackers and D-line and it gave us a lot of problems. We did not handle it well. We jumped off-sides on both sides of the ball,” says coach Dustin Baldwin. “Offensively, we had something going with our motion game where we were trying to get the ball outside. We were doing that effectively. Unfortunately, we jumped offsides about 80 percent of the time we tried to run that look.
“There’s a lot of reasons — we had 12 to 14 penalties and four turnovers. You’re not going to beat anybody worth their salt ever, doing that.”
The Tigers out-gained Branson 253 yards to 235. Sigman led the Tigers with 95 yards rushing on 15 carries. Duvall rushed 11 times for 46 yards and two scores. Lucas Hays was 11 of 21 passing for 99 yards, with three interceptions.
Republic tries to rebound next week with a road game against Nixa. The Eagles lost to Carthage to open the season, 38-7.