Republic kicked off to start the game, but still scored two touchdowns before Springfield Central ran an offensive play Friday night, setting the stage for a 60-7 victory in the opening round of district play.
A pair of early Central mistakes on kickoff returns put the Tigers in command. Gavin Lawhon recovered the fumbled opening kickoff, and Matthew Pelfrey scored on a 23-yard run two plays later. Mason Makoski’s extra point made it 7-0.
On the ensuing kickoff, the ball bounced untouched before Greg Hicks recovered it for Republic. The Tigers drove 37 yards in six plays, capped by Owen Klier’s 12-yard touchdown run for a 14-0 lead.
After forcing a Central punt, Republic struck again. Pelfrey’s second touchdown, a 2-yard run with 1:21 left in the first quarter, extended the lead to 21-0.
With a commanding lead, Republic coaches faced the challenge of managing playing time while avoiding injuries.
“It’s hard to prepare for that, because you don’t know how fast, when to pull guys out,” coach Ryan Cornelsen said. “We had guys that were out to start with that were already hurt, and then I saw one of our starters start to limp after 21 points. I’m like, all right, get ’em out.”
Republic began rotating reserves into the game late in the first quarter. Despite penalties that stalled one drive, the Tigers pushed the lead to 28-0 on Trenten Coleman’s 1-yard run with 3:12 remaining in the half.
Central scored its only touchdown on the next possession when Josh Jensen connected with Will Vernor on a 16-yard pass. Republic answered with a five-play, 39-yard drive, finished by Coleman’s second 1-yard touchdown run. A blocked extra point left the score 34-7 at halftime.
After punting on their first possession of the second half, the Tigers added three more offensive touchdowns. James Richmond scored twice on 18-yard runs, and Nolan Lashley broke free for a 33-yard touchdown run – his first varsity score – with 3:18 remaining. Freshman Kayden Smith intercepted a Central pass and returned it for a touchdown with 11 seconds left to complete the scoring.
Republic’s ground attack generated 454 yards. Pelfrey led the way with 109 yards on 12 carries. Coleman ran 10 times for 74 yards, and Richmond added 69 yards on six attempts. Other contributors included Klier (48 yards), Treyton Gray (33 yards), Hicks (32 yards), and Lashley (35 yards).
The Tiger defense limited Central to 82 total yards – 41 rushing and 41 passing.
The victory allowed Republic to give playing time to multiple reserves, though managing different personnel groups presented its own challenges.
“You’re trying to get as many in as you can, but that’s fun for them,” Cornelsen said. “I thought some of those senior defensive guys that came in early and replaced some of those starters did a good job of stopping the run and allowed us to keep them out of the end zone.”
Republic (8-2) advances to host Springfield Hillcrest in next week’s district semifinals. Hillcrest advanced with a 19-18 win over Parkview. Central ends its season at 0-10.
