Republic ran up nearly 600 yards of total offense, mostly on the ground, in a 45-21 win over Willard. But penalties and turnovers were frequent problems for a second straight week, and that leaves coach Ryan Cornelsen thinking about the room for improvement he sees, despite a 2-0 start.
“I don’t think tonight was nearly as sharp as what it should be. I felt like we had a lot of mistakes. We had some turnovers. We tried to do a … few more things with the spread and the passing game, and maybe that through some of our rhythm off,” Cornelsen said. “I’ve got to do a better job of making sure we have a plan that we can be efficient and effective. I was proud of the kids. I thought they played hard (and) they wanted to win, but we weren’t doing many things right.”
Republic’s mistakes kept Willard in the game, but Republic’s ground game dominated the first half. Avery Moody scored from 58 yards out to get the scoring started. on Republic’s first drive.
Republic fumbled the ball away on its second drive, setting up a Willard touchdown, but after Willard missed the extra point, Republic held a 7-6 lead.
Ezekiel Meads added a second Republic touchdown on a seven-yard run, capping a nine-play, 69-yard drive to put Republic ahead 14-6. On Meads’ TD run, he was hit in the backfield, but bounced off the first defender to touch him, as he did much of the night. His ability to run after being hit is something he takes pride in.
“That’s something I work on every time in practice, making sure I have an arsenal of moves,” he said. “But mostly I can give that up to my blockers. Most of those first tackles are just arm tackles coming off big hits and big blocks from my teammates.”
After another Republic defensive stop, the offense drove 41 yards in seven plays, scoring on a two-yard run by Moody to make the lead 21-6.
Republic got the ball back with about four minutes remaining in the half, and went to a spread offense, but was unable to move the ball. An interception ended the drive quickly and set up a Willard touchdown, with a two-point conversion pulling the home team to within seven, 21-14.
But Republic quickly marched up the field in the final 2:50 of the second quarter, setting up a 27-yard field goal by Marco Donjuan to make the score 24-14 at halftime.
Republic scored first in the second half. It was another touchdown by Meads, this one from six yards out, to make the score 31-14.
Owen Bushnell scored for Willard on a 25-yard run to cut the lead to 31-21, but that was as close as the score would be the rest of the night.
From there, Republic took over. Connor Sandridge scored on a 12-yard touchdown run to give Republic a 17-point lead. Another touchdown by Moody, a seven-yard run, was his third score of the night. That made the score 45–21, where it ended.
When a nearby lightning flash caused play to be halted with just about two minutes remaining, both coaches agreed to call it a night.
Republic finished with 598 total yards of offense, 470 on the ground. Moody was the leading rusher for a second week in a row, with 189 yards on 14 carries and three touchdowns. Meads was over 100 yards for the first time, carrying the ball 12 times for 117 yards and two touchdowns. Sandridge rushed for 86 yards on 14 carries. Kanon Krol carried the ball 14 times for 62 yards.
Gavyn Beckner saw his first action at quarterback, throwing three completions on eight attempts for 28 yards and an interception. Hayden Jones, Chase Buford, and James Rexroat each caught one pass.
