Performance of the Week - Nolan Lashley

Nolan Lashley had never carried the ball in a varsity game before Friday night. He made up for lost time in a hurry.

In his first game at running back after playing defense last season, Lashley ran 19 times for 131 yards and four touchdowns in Republic’s 35-0 season-opening shutout at Lebanon. He scored the Tigers’ first three touchdowns of the year — from two yards, four yards, and five yards out — as Republic built a 21-0 lead barely a quarter into the season. Then he put the finishing touch on the night in the fourth, breaking free on 2nd-and-3 and going 34 yards for his fourth score.

Lashley was the workhorse in a Republic ground game that piled up 349 yards.

“He’s a dynamic back. He runs the ball hard,” coach Ryan Cornelsen said. “He’s just got to continue to get better, continue to see the gaps. But yeah, he’s a really dynamic back. And he’s a big, big key to what we’re doing offensively.”

Four touchdowns in his first night carrying the ball add up to our Performance of the Week.