Republic steamrolled Ozark 35-0 Friday night, dominating both sides of the line of scrimmage from the opening whistle.
The Tigers’ defense smothered Ozark early, forcing more negative plays (nine) than positive (eight) in the first half. Playing a three-man front with much smaller defenders, Republic nevertheless ran roughshod over Ozark’s bigger offensive line. The work of the defensive line allowed the linebackers to feast on Ozark runners in the backfield, holding Ozark to minus-two rushing yards in the first two quarters.
Meanwhile, Republic’s offense found its groove, building a commanding 28-0 halftime lead. Preston McCracken ignited the scoring with a 21-yard strike to Owen Klier. Treyton Gray followed with a 16-yard touchdown dash, pushing the lead to 14-0.
Republic’s ground game took over from there. McCracken capped a six-minute, 67-yard march with a three-yard TD plunge. He later added a nine-yard scoring run, set up by Mason Fleetwood’s 35-yard scamper.
Fleetwood put the exclamation point on the rout in the second half, scoring from nine yards out to cap a 74-yard drive.
McCracken gashed Ozark for 103 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries. He’s the first 100-yard rusher of the year for the Tigers. Fleetwood chipped in 82 yards and a score on eight attempts. The Tigers amassed 336 rushing yards and 357 total yards.
Ozark’s offense sputtered all night, managing just 69 rushing yards – all after halftime. They completed just seven of 31 passes, with Cam Allen snagging an interception for Republic. Jin Villasica also had a fumble recovery for the defense.
“I thought both sides of the ball played really well up front,” said coach Ryan Cornelsen. “I was extremely proud of the defense. (Ozark) had some big plays, but we didn’t give up… Even though (Ozark) might get a big pass or they might break loose a little bit, (the defense) found a way to get a stop and keep them out of the end zone. That’s big for us.”
Cornelsen said the plan was to use the defense’s quickness, and it worked. “The plan, sometimes it’s better than others. I felt like we were outsized drastically, but we’re pretty quick off the ball and we’re pretty explosive. Sometimes those bigger bodies don’t get moving quick enough, and we can get through. I felt like our D-line was doing that some.
“We were putting them in different positions and letting them go, turning them loose a little bit, and it gave them problems for most of the game.”
The win improves Republic to 2-1. They’ll host Kickapoo next week. Ozark falls to 1-2.