Republic made its first-ever football trip to Kickapoo a memorable one, running away with a 54–7 win Friday night. The Tigers jumped ahead early and never let up, piling up 541 total yards and topping 50 points for the third straight week.
Republic’s opening stop on defense set the tone, and the Tigers capitalized with a seven-play, 40-yard drive that ended on a fourth-down strike from Preston McCracken to Kieran Govan for 30 yards and the game’s first touchdown. McCracken added a six-yard scoring run on the next drive to make it 13–0. In the second quarter, Republic put together an 11-play, 94-yard march capped by Owen Klier’s 13-yard run. Klier struck again before halftime, hauling in a 22-yard bullet from McCracken at the goal line to push the lead to 25–0.
The Tigers didn’t slow down after the break. Matthew Pelfrey’s four-yard touchdown run capped a 72-yard drive, then Treyton Gray broke a 22-yard run to set up a one-yard plunge by Izaiah Hull. After a Cayden Pacheco interception, Pelfrey added his second touchdown on a short field. Kickapoo got on the board with a kickoff return, but Republic answered in three plays—most of it coming on Gray’s 68-yard sprint to the end zone.
Klier led the offense with 164 yards rushing on 13 carries, along with one rushing touchdown and one receiving touchdown. McCracken finished 3-of-6 for 73 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception, and also rushed for 55 yards and a score. Hull carried 12 times for 51 yards and a touchdown. Gray turned two carries into 90 yards and a touchdown. Govan had the 30-yard TD catch, and Braxton Lundberg added a 21-yard reception.
Coach Ryan Cornelsen credited his defense and the offensive line, while noting there’s still work to do. “It probably wasn’t as consistent offensively first half for what we want. We had some penalties. We did some things that we’ve got to clean up. We can’t have those kind of mistakes. When you see our offense…sputters out, some of those things, we’ve got to prevent those and we’ve got to make sure that we’re clicking on all cylinders,” Cornelsen said.
“Defense had a great night. They stepped up, shut down the run, shut down the pass. Obviously, they didn’t have (their usual) quarterback, so that changed their game plan, but we also hadn’t seen it. So it threw us for a little bit, trying to figure out what they were trying to do. But overall, obviously, we’re excited about a win and a win that big. We played better. But I think there’s a lot of things we can improve on.”
Klier pointed to better execution as the key to his recent success. “I think I’m doing a better job of firing off the ball and getting through to the second level faster. And…the line’s blocking really well right now,” he said.
McCracken praised the work up front that kept the Tigers moving. “At the end of the game, we just ran the same play five times and it’s basically just our line, and our fullback just runs right behind it. It’s like our line getting eight yards every single play. They move the line of scrimmage, so it’s nice.”
The defense gave up just 55 rushing yards, including negative passing yardage, continuing a string of dominant efforts.
The win was Republic’s third in a row, and it pushed the Tigers to 2–0 all-time against Kickapoo. They’ll carry momentum into homecoming next week when Joplin comes to town. The Eagles are 2-2, with wins over Kickapoo and Glendale, and losses to Lebanon and Nixa.
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