Avery Moody and Connor Sandridge each scored three touchdowns, and the Tigers blitzed Neosho – literally – in a 47-12 romp to open the season under new head coach Ryan Cornelsen. The Tigers jumped to a 33-0 halftime lead and racked up 485 total yards – 468 on the ground – by the time the game was over.
The Republic defense held Neosho to 145 total yards, and most of those were in the second half. The Tigers broke into the Wildcats backfield all night, racking up five sacks for -33 yards.
From the very start, it was clear that Republic would be capable of pounding the ball right at Neosho’s defense. The Tigers scored touchdowns on their first five possessions, with the offensive line getting off the ball and opening up holes for the ball carriers.
“That’s the key to our offense. That’s what makes us go,” said Cornelsen. “If that offensive line can get a push, we’ve got a chance to win games. I felt like early, before we got tired, we looked pretty good up front.”
Moody carried the ball 13 times for 195 yards and three scores. Sandridge had 134 yards on 11 carries. Kanon Krol carried the ball 11 times for 56 yards, and Ezekiel Meads rushed for 62 yards on eight carries.
The Tigers needed just five plays to march 75 yards on their opening drive, scoring on an Moody three-yard run set up by a 55-yard run by Sandridge. They missed the extra point, and it was 6-0.
Neosho fumbled on its next drive, and Republic scored on a Sandridge six-yard run. Another missed extra point left the score 12-0. The Tigers put together their longest drive of the night on their next possession. Republic took 15 plays and more than eight and a half minutes to drive 93 yards, finishing with a one-yard TD run by Kanon Krol. The extra point made it 19-0.
The Tigers followed up their longest drive with their fastest. Avery Moody bolted into the secondary and outraced the defense to the end zone, scoring on a 69-yard run that made the score 26-0. The final score of the half, a 22-yard run by Sandridge, put Republic ahead 33-0 at the halfway point.
Sandridge scored again on an 18-yard run about nine minutes into the third quarter, giving Republic a 40-0 lead. After Jared Siler scored Neosho’s first touchdown, Moody responded with another long scoring run – this one 55 yards – to put Republic up 47-6. Neosho scored a final touchdown with less than three minutes remaining to make the score 47-12, the final.
Cornelsen and the coaching staff were confident going into Friday’s game, but he didn’t necessarily expect a rout.
“You never really know, game one. You’re wanting to execute some things, and I feel like the kids did some of that,” he said. “We had some things we’ve got to get better at. We had a lot of penalties, a lot of missed calls on the offensive line, but those are things that we expect (in) week one.”
After the Tigers hung 33 points on the scoreboard in the first half, they slowed down in the third quarter. Cornelsen said that was a conditioning issue.
“I told our kids we gassed fast. We weren’t in shape to play that style of football in this heat. So that’s stuff we’ve got to get better (at), and as the year goes, we’ll get better at that,” he said. “But I was awfully proud of them. They played hard. They listened to the plan and did the best they could, and good things happened.”
After spending the summer teaching his players a new system and trying to instill a new attitude, Cornelsen said Friday’s win was a rewarding one to him as a coach.
“You try to sell on things, and you tell them things in the summer that are going to happen, and things are changing. As a coach, that’s probably the most special thing, is we spend all that time, then they go out and execute and they have success. You can see it in their eyes. They light up,” he said. “As a coach, that’s probably the best part about it, so I enjoyed it. I hope they enjoyed it, and hopefully we can have more and more of that.”
Republic is 1-0, and the Tigers travel to Willard next week. Willard lost to Carl Junction this week, 39-13.
