Kickapoo ran the ball 29 times Friday night and finished with minus-4 rushing yards, and the Chiefs never reached the end zone on offense in a 54-10 Republic win. Republic racked up more than 500 yards on the ground to move to 2-0, and Alex Johnson had a second-half pick-six.
That’s two weeks in a row now that the Tiger defense hasn’t allowed an offensive touchdown. Kickapoo’s only points came on a 28-yard field goal in the first quarter and a 74-yard kickoff return to open the second half.
Republic set the tone on the opening drive, 12 plays and 80 yards over 4:40, with Nolan Lashley scoring from two yards out. Kickapoo ran three plays for minus-3 yards on its next drive before punting it away.
The Chiefs’ one scoring drive came after a Republic fumble near midfield. Turner Hale hit Will Buckley for 54 yards down to the Republic 6, and that’s as close as Kickapoo got all night. A false start pushed them back, Hale lost six yards on a run, and the Chiefs settled for the field goal with 1:16 left in the quarter, making the score 7-3.
Keiran Govan answered on the very next snap with an 80-yard touchdown run, sprinting past the Kickapoo defense up the left sideline.
The second quarter was all Republic. The defense blocked a Kickapoo punt and the Tigers took over at the 12, and two plays later Lashley scored from nine yards out. Lashley added a 35-yard touchdown run, then capped an eight-play, 85-yard drive with a one-yard score to make it 35-3 at the half. Kickapoo punted on all four of its second-quarter possessions.
Game page →The first touchdown of the year by a Republic opponent came on the opening play of the second half. Kickapoo’s Rylan Hamilton returned the kickoff to the 1-yard line, fumbled, and Will Buckley recovered in the end zone for the Chief’s only touchdown.
“We can’t come out of halftime and be flat and all of a sudden give up a return,” said coach Ryan Cornelsen. “There’s no way we should have gave that up. And so those are things we’ll learn from.”
On Kickapoo’s first offensive snap of the half, Alex Johnson picked off Drake Wilson and returned it 29 yards for a touchdown. Greg Hicks scored from a yard out later in the third, and Alex Russell added a two-yard run in the fourth to cap the scoring.
Kickapoo finished with 64 total yards and five first downs. Take away the one 54-yard completion and the Chiefs gained 10 yards all night.
“We gave up a couple big plays there, which we’ll learn from,” Cornelsen said. “But even when we did, we’re able to hold them out of the end zone. I feel like we’re playing fast. Obviously I’ll have to watch the film, but I know there’s some things I saw that we’ve got to get better at.”
Lashley ran 10 times for 93 yards and four touchdowns — the second straight week he’s scored four. Govan carried four times for 109 yards. Hayes Porter had 83 yards on five carries, including a 56-yard run to open the third quarter. In all, Republic ran 56 times for 508 yards and threw the ball twice.
The Tigers also took 10 penalties for 115 yards.
“There’s times that we look pretty good, there’s times we’re flat, and there’s times that things aren’t looking very good,” Cornelsen said. “And I think that’s just our inexperience as a team. We got a lot of new guys out there, and so we can’t have those drives where we go flat or things go bad. We had too many penalties. I think that was the big key tonight.”
Next up is Nixa, which is ranked among the top teams in the state.
“We’re not jumping into a district offense,” Cornelsen said. “We’re just taking our next step and it’ll show us where we’re at. We get one of the best if not the best team in Missouri. So that’ll be a big week for us.”
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