For one quarter, Republic stayed with top-ranked Webb City. Then the wheels fell off. Webb City scored 30 points in the second quarter to take a dominating 44-6 halftime lead and cruised to a 51-12 win on the Cardinals’ homecoming night.
From the start, Webb City’s big-play offense burned Republic. The Cardinals took just 14 seconds to score their first touchdown, ripping off runs of 35 and 11 yards to score in two plays.
Republic answered almost as quickly, scoring on its own two-play drive. The big play was a 70-yard pass from Lucas Hayes to Jaden Duvall for a touchdown. Webb City blocked the extra point to retain a 7-6 lead.
For the rest of the first quarter, Republic and Webb City traded blows in an evenly matched game. The Cardinals went backwards on their next drive before punting, and the Tigers drove the ball into Webb City territory before throwing an interception.
Two plays later, Webb City scored again on a 42-yard touchdown run by Cade Beason, running the score to 14-6. Both defenses got a stop to close out the first quarter, and Republic had the ball early in the second quarter with a chance to tie before things fell apart.
The Webb City defense cracked down and the offense heated up. In the second quarter, the Cardinals scored on an 80-yard pass to Terrell Kabala, a 32-yard run by Kane Parks, a 25-yard run by Durand Henderson, and a 35-yard pass to Kabala. To top it off, Republic allowed a safety when a snap went over the head of punter Logan Watson. Webb City led 44-6 at halftime.
Republic scored its second touchdown on a 24-yard run by Louis Wallace with 7:24 left in the game, but Webb City responded with a final touchdown of its own on a run by Kane Parks.
Webb City piled up 520 offensive yards. Republic had 300. The Tigers rushed for 182 yards: 63 by Hayes, 97 by Wallace, and 20 by Sigman. Lucas Hayes threw for 118 yards, completing seven of 13 passes with one interception and one touchdown. Duvall had two catches for 86 yards. Cam Flood had two catches for 25 yards. Wallace had one catch for 15 yards.
Republic falls to 2-5. The Tigers host Carthage next week.
