Republic overcame a sluggish first half at Willard, scoring 28 unanswered points in the second half to win 49–22 Friday night on the road. Gunner Ellison rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns, and he also added an interception in the second half. Republic out-gained Willard 478 yards to 233.
Republic seemed to have things well in hand with two minutes remaining in the first half. After allowing a Willard touchdown on the opening drive of the game, Republic had settled down and taken a 21–7 lead. But Willard scored two touchdowns in the final minute of the second quarter by completing several long passes and taking advantage of Republic penalties. A two-point conversion in the final seconds of the half allowed Willard to take the lead 22–21.
Coach Ryan Cornelsen said the halftime discussion wasn’t so much strategic as “an encouragement, is how I would put it — a little bit of a butt chewin’.
“There’s nothing Xs and Os. It was attention to detail. There were some things this week, kids being late and stuff, that I felt like was lack of discipline. When you do that throughout the week, it shows up on Friday night. So I just pointed out some of those things and told them we’ve got to be better, and we deserved that embarrassment in the first half. Now go change it in the second half.”
It didn’t take long to change it. Republic got the ball to open the second half and kick returner Daniel Phillips lit a fire under his team by returning the ball to the Willard 43 yard line. That set up a touchdown drive that gave Republic the lead for good. Connor Sandridge punched the ball over the goal line from two yards out, and the extra point put Republic ahead 28-22.
Republic stepped up its defensive pressure and stopped Willard’s passing game on the next possession. One of Cooper Douglas’s two sacks helped force a Willard punt, and Republic scored again when Gunner Ellison crossed the goal line on a fourth-down play, scoring on a ten-yard run. Republic was ahead 35-22 at that point.
The defense forced another Willard 3-and-out, and Kanon Krol scored on a five-yard touchdown run to cap the next drive.
With Republic ahead 42-22, Khamari Edwards blew from the offensive line to pressure quarterback Russell Roweton, who threw an errant pass that was picked off by a diving Ellison. Not long after that, David Hayes scored his first varsity touchdown on a 31-yard run to make the score 49-22, where it ended.
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In the first half, Willard had opened the scoring with a 57-yard touchdown pass from Roweton to Cha Amodeo. Both defenses got a stop before Republic scored its first touchdown. It came at the end of a 12-play, 70-yard drive on a 15-yard pass from Wyatt Woods to James Rexroat. That put Republic ahead 7-6.
Republic’s second touchdown drive was a seven-play drive that went 88 yards. A four-yard run by Ellison made it 14-6.
Republic went up 21-6 on its next possession after a poor punt left Republic in great field possession. The 34-yard drive lasted only three plays and ended with a 17-yard touchdown run by Woods.
But after Republic’s next drive fell short of the end zone, Willard struck quickly on its last two possessions of the half. They completed passses of 34 and 19 yards on the way to the end zone to make the score 21-14, then got another stop and scored again. Their drive included a 35-yard pass, a pass interference call, a personal fall on Republic, and eventually an 11-yard TD pass. The two-point conversion put Willard ahead at halftime.
Gunner Ellison’s 133 rushing yards and two touchdowns led Republic. He carried the ball ten times. Woods rushed for 101 yards on 13 carries. Krol rushed for 77 yards on 15 carries, and Sandridge rushed for 79 yards on 14 carries. Woods, Sandridge, and Krol each had one touchdown. Republic rushed for 457 yards in total, and passed for 21 yards.
Willard passed for 211 yards and ran for 36.
Defensively, Republic got two sacks each from Cooper Douglas and Noah Reese.
Republic improves to 3-2. Willard falls to 0-5. Republic travels to Joplin next week.
