Republic football enters the 2024 season with heightened expectations after last year’s state runner-up finish. The Tigers’ 12-3 campaign marked the most successful in program history, but head coach Ryan Cornelsen faces the challenge of replacing key graduates while maintaining the team’s winning culture.
“What an amazing experience for our program, for our kids, for our community. It was extremely special,” Cornelsen said. “You want to use that momentum, you want to use that experience to help benefit your program, but you also don’t want to make it where that’s our only goal.”
The Tigers aim to build on last year’s achievements without being defined by them. Cornelsen wants his players attentive to constant improvement over end-of-season accolades.
“Our goal should be day-to-day getting better and making sure we’re accountable to our assignment,” he said. “Culture is something that is a choice daily. It’s not something you just have. It’s something you have to work at daily.”
Offensive Overview
The Tigers’ offense faces the challenge of replacing several key contributors, including quarterback Wyatt Woods. Cornelsen knows Woods will be hard to replace not only because of his physical ability, but because of the steady demeanor he brought to the field. Junior Preston McCracken and Sophomore Trenten Coleman are both capable of stepping into that spot. Both bring athleticism to the position, with Cornelsen noting McCracken’s arm strength as a potential asset.
“Preston’s got a really big arm. Obviously he’s a (baseball) pitcher,” Cornelsen said. “Do we utilize that more? The season will tell us.”
McCracken and Coleman are likely to be on the field together at times, with the coaching staff looking for opportunities to take advantage of their athleticism whenever possible by moving one or both of them around.
The offensive line, crucial to Republic’s success, returns some experience despite graduating several players. Blaze Mooneyham and Auston Key are among the returners expected to anchor the unit. Chance Gimlin and Landon Harper, who both saw time at tight end last season, will contribute up front.
“If our offensive line can get movement, get a push, I always feel like we’ve got a chance,” Cornelsen said.
Owen Klier and James Richmond lead the tailback group, with Mason Fleetwood at Z-back. Cannon Ellison returns as a primary receiving target, with CJ Uhl providing another tall option at tight end.
Defensive Overview
There’s even more turnover on the defense, but that doesn’t faze Cornelsen. “A lot of new faces, which is exciting, brings new opportunity.”.
In the secondary, Ryder Davis returns after earning significant playing time late in 2023. Cornelsen praised Davis’s development, citing him as an example of successful player progression from JV to varsity, after he increased his varsity playing time over the course of last season.
Linebacker Kaleb Norman, who became a starter early last year, is expected to take on a larger role after growing significantly over the course of last year.
“His ability to go through a season, to learn how to read, to learn how fast the game is, to understand how important his assignment is—now he has a year of doing it,” Cornelsen said.
Cam Allen moves from safety to outside linebacker, as the Tigers look for him to provide a more physical presence in that position group. Logan and Keegan Hunt anchor the defensive line, bringing size and athleticism to the unit.
“Keegan’s really fast, probably one of our most athletic kids on the edge,” Cornelsen said.
Schedule Overview
The Central Ozark Conference name is the same, but there’s a lot of change on the schedule. Among other changes, Kickapoo, Glendale, Waynesville, and Lebanon have been added to an already competitive league. (Republic will not play every COC team every season.) Despite the transition, Cornelsen’s approach remains consistent.
“Obviously it’s always a goal to win conference. But again, we’re trying to be our best at the end,” he said. And he believes the strength of the league will help his team prepare for that end-of-year run again. He said that was evident in the results of last year.
“Week-in and week-out, we were in games. We went to the state championship, and we only beat Willard by one, we beat Carthage by one. It’s not like we were rolling people,” he said. “I think that makes you better. That also makes it the league that it is,” he said.
“It’s not so much that the top-end teams are really good, but the bottom-end teams are good, too. To me, that’s what separates it from a lot of other leagues.”
As the season approaches, Cornelsen is curious to see how his less experienced team responds to adversity.
“The thing that will be interesting this year is without experience, where do we find ways to win when it’s not as clean as it should be?” Cornelsen said. “Who’s going to step up and make those plays?”
He sees potential for unexpected contributors to emerge throughout the season. It happened last year with signature plays like Garrett Lester’s 99-yard quarterfinal kickoff return and Kaleb Norman’s semifinal-clinching interception.
“You think of the different kids that made different plays, and nobody would have picked them to make the game-changing play, and they did. And that was part of it that made it special,” Cornelsen said.
He added that some players have already surprised him with their offseason development.
“There’s kids already right now that are in our lineup, different personnel packages, that a year ago I would have told you probably wouldn’t have been. They had that good an offseason, they came in with a different mindset, and now we’re going to be leaning on those guys,” he said.
Republic opens its season on the road against Nixa on August 30.
