Sixteen seconds after Carthage had taken a fourth-quarter lead, Alex Johnson dropped a kickoff at the goal line, picked it up at the five yard line, and sprinted 95 yards for a touchdown. It was the biggest momentum shift on a night full of them, and it lifted Republic (Class 5 No. 3) to a 26-22 win over Carthage (Class 5 No. 2) on Friday.
(Editor’s Note: After checking the rules, the runback is calculated from the spot where the returner gains possession, making it a 95-yard kickoff return.)
Republic had beaten Carthage once in 25 meetings before Friday, and Carthage ended the Tigers’ season last year. The win clinches at least a share of the Central Ozark Conference championship and gives Republic the inside track to the No. 1 seed in Class 5 District 6, with Willard still left on the schedule. The top seed gets home field in the district tournament.
“It ended our season last year,” senior Ethan Montiel said. “We’re gonna have to probably see them again in the playoffs. We’re gonna have to do it again in the playoffs, but to come out here and get a win over Carthage, move on to 7-1, that’s a great feeling.”
Republic coach Ryan Cornelsen said the night went both ways for his team, with big momentum swings throughout.
“They were really good. It was just a hard-fought game, both teams,” he said. “We made some great plays and some terrible plays, some things that were just up and down.”
Game page →Republic’s first drive reached the Carthage 15, and Cooper Cornelsen threw incomplete on third-and-goal and fourth-and-goal. Carthage gave the ball right back, going for it on fourth-and-three at midfield on its next drive, and Landon West was stopped for no gain.
Nolan Lashley had runs of 26 and 11 yards on the drive that followed and scored on a one-yard run late in the first quarter. Carthage answered with a 65-yard drive that ended with quarterback Slade Stiffler’s seven-yard touchdown run. Republic’s last drive of the half went from its own 9 to the Carthage 34 before time ran out, and it was 7-7 at halftime.
Republic was supposed to get the ball to start the third quarter, but Carthage recovered an onside kick to open play after the break. West ran 33 yards for a touchdown on the very next play, and Carthage led 14-7 just 10 seconds into the half.
Lashley carried six times on Republic’s 11-play drive to answer. Keiran Govan broke a 23-yard run to get the Tigers into Carthage territory, and Lashley scored on a five-yard run with 8:06 left in the third. A penalty on Carthage before the snap wiped out the extra point, and Republic’s next kick was blocked, leaving Carthage with a 14-13 lead.
Republic followed that with an onside kick of its own, with Fisher Moore recovering the ball at the Carthage 43. But the ensuing drive stalled out, and Carthage had an opportunity to extend its one-point lead.
That’s when Johnson made the first of his two big plays. With Carthage in Republic territory, on fourth-and-eight, Johnson intercepted Stiffler to keep it a one-point margin.
“I knew they were trying to run a pick play to get me over,” Johnson said. “As soon as I saw him break in, I planted my foot, ran super, super fast. And I saw the ball right there. (I was) able to secure it and then get our offense on the field.”
Two plays later, Lashley broke loose for 47 yards to the Carthage 23. Lashley said Republic had been running the same dive play all night, but Carthage kept slanting in and stacking the box.
“The second I saw the outside linebacker get hooked, I bounced it,” Lashley said. “I took off and unfortunately I got hawked down. So I’ll be faster next week. I feel like it really got the momentum going.”
Baelor Cutbirth ran 11 yards to the 12, and Lashley scored on a 10-yard run with three seconds left in the third quarter. The two-point run failed, and Republic led 19-14.
But the momentum didn’t stay with Republic for long. Carthage went 53 yards in nine plays to open the fourth, and Tate Nichols scored on a 15-yard run. Stiffler threw to Nichols for the two-point conversion, and Carthage led 22-19 with 8:19 left.
That set up Johnson’s heroics on the very next kickoff. After the ball got away from him initially, he knew he had to make something happen.
“I just needed to make a play, so I tried to bounce it outside, and then someone tried to wrap me around. I spun off of it, and then there was green grass,” Johnson said. “I was like, I’m fast. I’m gonna try and get around this edge. And I was able to make one guy miss.”
Johnson’s touchdown return put Republic back on top, and the Ethan Blades extra point made it 26-22 with 8:03 remaining.
Carthage had one more chance to retake the lead and drove to the Republic 10. A false start set up fourth-and-12 from the 15, and Stiffler’s pass fell incomplete with 3:25 left. From there, the Tigers ran out the clock. Lashley and Cutbirth carried six straight times, a Carthage unsportsmanlike conduct penalty added 15 yards on a 4th-down play, and Republic ran out the clock.
Cornelsen said he was proud of his defense against Carthage’s offense.
“That’s a tough offense to stop,” Cornelsen said. “We tried to make some adjustments and they didn’t work as well, so I felt like they did a good job of holding them out of the end zone.”
Montiel said Cornelsen’s message to the defense was to stay in its zone and play disciplined.
“We came out every single play with the physicality to go run through somebody’s face,” Montiel said. “And I think that led to a lot of big plays tonight.”
Cornelsen said credited Carthage’s defense with making it difficult to get going offensively.
“My play calling wasn’t as consistent. I couldn’t find the rhythm. And good teams will do that to you, right? So I kept thinking we were going to find the rhythm,” he said. “I feel like we can play better. I didn’t feel like it was our best showing.”
Lashley finished with 191 yards and three touchdowns on 31 carries and now has 27 touchdowns this season. That breaks the old record of 26, previously held by Jerney Jones.
Cutbirth, who moved to the offensive side of the ball after a monster game at linebacker last week, ran 13 times for 104 yards. Govan had 38 yards on five carries. In all, Republic ran 58 times for 348 yards, and Brennan Overstreet completed an eight-yard pass to Hayes Porter.
West led Carthage with 108 yards on 19 carries.
The win guarantees Republic at least a share of the COC West championship. The last time the Tigers won or shared a conference title was 2004 under coach Aaron Hafner.
The Tigers improve to 7-1 and play at Willard Friday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m. to close out the regular season.
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