Lightning delayed the start of Republic’s 2022 football season by about 15 minutes, then it took nearly another hour for the Tigers to get started. By that time, Carthage all-state running back Luke Gall had scored six first-half touchdowns, helping his team build a 42-7 halftime lead on the way to a 56-26 victory in Carthage.
Gall, who picked up where he left off after a 1,900-yard rushing season as a junior, carried the ball 15 times for 130 yards and five touchdowns. He added 126 receiving yards, including another touchdown.
“It was a butt-kicking in all aspects. It wasn’t just defense. It was offense. It was all the way across the board. It was embarrassing,” said coach Ryan Cornelsen. Republic went four straight drives without a first down, turning the ball over on two of them, but besides the way his team played in the first half, Cornelsen said he was disappointed with the way the players responded to the early adversity.
“I was probably more embarrassed with our lack of character at times than I was the score,” Cornelsen said. “An embarrassing game like that, in Game 1, it will do it to you in a hurry, so we had to get that addressed.
“But then we came back and I couldn’t be more proud of how they responded in the second half and listened and understood our character can’t change, win or lose, good or bad.”
Republic’s only score in the first half came after Carthage had taken a 7-0 lead. A kickoff return to the 45-yard line by Daniel Phillips set up the offense at midfield, and Republic scored quickly on a 53-yard run around the left end by Gunner Ellison, tying the score 7-7.
The second half was a more competitive game, even while Carthage had its starters on the field. Republic played better offensively, but still had no answer for Carthage on defense. Carthage quarterback Cooper Jadwin rushed 74 yards for a TD on the first play of the half, making the score 49-7.
From that point on, Republic did manage a few offensive highlights. Wyatt Woods threw a 65-yard touchdown pass to James Rexroat on its first play of the second half, cutting the lead to 49-14. After a defensive stop, Woods threw a 50-yard TD pass to Ellison to make the score 49-20.
Carthage scored again, and on the next Republic drive, Woods hooked up with Rexroat on two more completions before throwing another TD pass to Ellison from 14 yards out. That made the score 56-26, where it ended.
Republic finished with 199 rushing yards on 32 carries, but most of that yardage came on a few long runs. The Carthage defense keyed on Connor Sandridge most of the night, holding him to 48 yards on ten carries. Kanon Krol carried the ball five times for eight yards. Woods was the team’s leading rusher with 11 carries and 79 yards.
Woods “played great. He gives us a chance, because he’s a dual threat guy, and he showcased that tonight,” Cornelsen said. “But we’ve got to get better up front. We were bad on both sides of the ball, we were bad blocking out of the backfield. It was a frustrating night, to say the least.”
“I told the kids, losing is not acceptable. We’re not going to accept it. But neither is bad character, so we’ve got to improve on both of those.”
