Republic opened the season with one of its best defensive performances in years, shutting out Neosho 21-0 on the road to open the season. The night started with a Neosho turnover and the Tiger defense never let up the rest of the night.
Cooper Lander gave Republic its first big break when he recovered a fumble on Neosho’s first series of the night. The Tigers turned that Wildcat mistake into a touchdown six plays later when Avery Moody scored on a one-yard touchdown run with 8:54 left in the first quarter. Sophomore quarterback Gavyn Beckner helped set up the touchdown by completing two passes on the drive, including a 39-yarder to Landon Porter. Marco Donjuan made the extra point to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead.
On Neosho’s second drive, Connor Sandridge picked off a pass and returned the ball 26 yards, but the Tigers failed to turn that into another touchdown. Republic scored again on its third drive, going 65 yards to take a 14-0 lead on a 14-yard run by Moody.
Neosho threatened to score late in the first half before Republic’s defense turned in a big stop, forcing a turnover on downs deep in Tiger territory.
In the third quarter, Neosho had one its best chances to score when Republic’s Josh Sterling fumbled on the Republic 28 yard line. But the Tiger defense came up big again. After giving up five yards on Neosho’s first place, the Tigers threw the Wildcats for two consecutive losses, putting them at 4th and 10. A Neosho penalty set the Wildcats back five more yards and the Tigers held.
On the ensuing possession, Republic marched 67 yards in six plays to put the game out of reach. A six-yard touchdown run by Moody and a Donjuan extra point made it 21-0.
Both Moody and Beckner had good debuts at varsity quarterback. Moody scored three touchdowns and rushed for 68 yards on 14 carries. Beckner threw the ball eight times, completing five passes for 100 yards. Two of his passes went for more than 30 yards – the 39-yarder to Porter in the first half and one for 32 yards to Chase Buford in the second half. He threw one interception.
Josh Sterling had 11 carries for 61 yards.
Republic finished with 310 total yards, 210 on the ground and 100 in the air. The Tiger defense held Neosho to 142 total yards – and to just 24 passing yards.
Republic improves to 1-0. Neosho is 0-1 Republic will host Willard next week.