Branson rushed for more than 300 yards in a 42-29 win over Republic to open the season at Branson Friday. Pirates running back Jay Hill was the primary culprit, racking up 181 yards on 21 carries. Branson scored three first-half touchdowns and stayed in control most of the night.
“I didn’t think we were a very disciplined football team. We certainly didn’t execute,” coach Dustin Baldwin said after the game. “Offensively, early on, we didn’t execute pretty simple things.
“Then I’d say defensively, we did not have any discipline or tackle well. If we were supposed to be in spots, we weren’t in those spots – whether that be slanting inside or a linebacker that was supposed maintain outside leverage would be in different places we weren’t supposed to be.”
Despite its early difficulties, Republic’s offense showed a spark at times. The Tigers gained 321 total yards – 135 passing and 186 rushing. Lucas Hayes completed nine of 15 passes for 57 yards. He also rushed for 87 yards on 18 carries and scored two touchdowns.
Riley Sigman carried the ball 15 times for 78 yards and caught eight passes for 44 yards and a touchdown.
Josh Sterling gained 21 yards on five carries. Claye White caught four passes for 53 yards and a touchdown. Gavin Walker caught three passes for 30 yards, and Blake Hulland gained eight yards on a single reception.
Baldwin said much of Republic’s offensive trouble stemmed from blocking. “A lot of times when people hear that, they think the linemen, but in our offense, we have to take pride in blocking on the perimeter, and we didn’t do that,” he said. “I didn’t think we read blocks particularly well when we had the ball in space. I just felt like we really struggled to make really simple plays that would have made a difference.”
Branson got on the board first with a six-play, 57-yard drive that ended with a 24-yard touchdown pass from Dalton Muenchau to Ethan Jones. After the Pirates blocked a punt, they scored again on a 25-yard run by Hill to go ahead 14-0.
Republic scored for the first time in the middle of the second quarter. Hayes engineered an eight-play, 49-yard drive, scoring on a five-yard touchdown run, to cut the lead in half, 14-7. But Branson answered on its next possession, going 67 yards in six plays and scoring on a seven-yard run by Muenchau. The Pirates led 21-7 at halftime.
Republic clawed its way back into the game in the third quarter. The Tigers put together a 12-play drive that covered 67 yards and ended on a one-yard plunge by Hayes. On Branson’s next possession, Evan Smith recovered a fumble on the Pirates’ four-yard line. The Tigers converted that to another score when Hayes connected with Sigman on a three-yard touchdown pass. Jared Hughes turned a bad snap into a two-point conversion, and Republic trailed only by six points, 28-22.
From there, though, Branson took over. The Pirates scored on their next two possessions to stretch the lead back to 42-22 with about four minutes remaining. Republic scored once more, on an eight-play, 81-yard drive. The highlight was a 37-yard touchdown pass from Hayes to Claye White.
Republic falls to 0-1, and will try to turn things around next Friday when Nixa visits.
“We have to bounce back next week. Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us,” Baldwin said. “We have to get better. We’re going to being a more disciplined football team that tackles and blocks better.”