Nolan Lashley put Republic ahead in the third overtime, and then went out on defense and made the lead stand up.
Lashley hadn’t played defense all season, but on the two-point conversion that would have tied the game, he came off the edge, ran down Carthage quarterback Slade Stiffler from behind, and forced a pass that fell incomplete. It gave Republic a 32-30 victory in Friday’s Class 5 District 6 semifinal.
Lashley had opened the third overtime with a 25-yard touchdown run and ran in the two-point conversion for a 32-24 lead. Carthage answered with Karter Manzer’s six-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-one, but the defense held up on Carthage’s attempt to tie the score again.
It’s Republic’s second win over Carthage in three weeks and just its third in 27 meetings, and it sends Republic (9-1) to the district championship game against Neosho on Friday, Nov. 13. Carthage ended Republic’s season a year ago, but Republic turned the tables on Friday in a triple-overtime classic.
“That was just two teams that pride themselves in the same thing, being physical and being disciplined, and I think both teams were doing that all the way through,” Cornelsen said. “Neither one of us flinched. There wasn’t many flags in there. Both teams just kept battling. We found a way to make one more play or one stop more than they did.”
Carthage needed two plays and 53 seconds to score at the start of the night. Stiffler ran 46 yards for a touchdown on the second snap of the game, and Carthage led 7-0.
Game page →Republic answered with a 71-yard drive that Lashley carried most of the way, and on fourth-and-four at the Carthage 44, Cooper Cornelsen threw to Baelor Cutbirth for 34 yards. Cornelsen scored two plays later on an eight-yard run, and it was 7-7 with 6:20 left in the first quarter.
Carthage lost 13 yards on its next three plays and punted, and Republic went 71 yards again, this time in 13 plays. Cutbirth and Lashley each converted a fourth-and-one, Cornelsen broke a 41-yard run to the Carthage 3, and Lashley scored on a one-yard run with 10:28 left in the half. Republic led 14-7.
Republic recovered an onside kick at the Carthage 44, and Republic drove down to the one-yard line, but the Carthage defense turned the Tigers away with 5:17 left in the half.
Cornelsen said that drive was where the night changed for his offense.
“When we didn’t score going in to get to 21, I probably got too conservative in my play calls,” Cornelsen said. “There was a stint there we couldn’t get an inch. It was a tough go. It didn’t open back up until we got to overtime, and I don’t know what the difference was. We didn’t change anything. We just all of a sudden started breaking a few tackles or starting to get to the blocks.”
Carthage punted from its own 16 with 2:02 left, Republic muffed the catch, and Carthage recovered at the Republic 42. Carthage drove to the 11, and Stiffler’s fourth-down pass fell incomplete with 32 seconds left. It was 14-7 at halftime.
Carthage opened the second half with an onside kick of its own, recovered it at the Republic 49 and drove to the 21 before Republic stopped Stiffler a yard short on fourth-and-seven. Republic went three-and-out, Carthage took over at the Republic 44, and Karter Manzer converted a fourth-and-one on the way to Stiffler’s 10-yard touchdown run with 1:46 left in the third quarter. It was 14-14.
Neither offense moved after that until overtime. Republic’s next drive crossed midfield and came back on a personal foul, and Republic punted from its own 44. Carthage went three-and-out. Republic drove from its own 14 to the Carthage 48 and was stopped on fourth-and-two with 4:04 left, and Carthage punted the ball out of bounds at the Republic 9 with 44 seconds left. Republic ran one play, and the game went to overtime at 14-14.
That’s when the offense got rolling again for Republic. Cutbirth took Republic’s first overtime snap 25 yards for a touchdown, and the kick made it 21-14. Carthage’s Landon West carried three straight times to the Republic 3, and Manzer scored from there to tie it at 21.
Carthage had the ball first in the second overtime and converted a fourth-and-eight on Stiffler’s 11-yard pass to Tate Nichols, but a six-yard loss and an encroachment penalty left Carthage settling for a 30-yard field goal by Malachi Dougless and a 24-21 lead. Republic’s drive stalled at the Carthage 4, and a 21-yard field goal by Ethan Blades tied it at 24.
Lashley took the first snap of the third overtime 25 yards for a touchdown and ran in the two-point conversion, and Republic led 32-24. Carthage answered with an eight-play drive that converted a fourth-and-six on a Manzer run and a fourth-and-one on Manzer’s six-yard touchdown. That made it 32-30, and Carthage went for two to tie.
Lashley said he had been standing as close to Cornelsen as he could get, hoping to be put in, and Cornelsen told him to go play linebacker with no responsibility.
“I was super happy, you know, just run around and play football,” Lashley said. “I seen him drop back and the running back took off. I knew there was no one to block me. I’ve seen a gap open and took it and I got the pressure.”
Lashley said he didn’t have time to turn and look for the ball.
“I was praying that he’d have thrown it into the dirt,” Lashley said.
Cooper Cornelsen, who had never played in an overtime game, said he watched the last play from the sideline.
“Man, I was over there nervous. I sent up a little prayer,” Cornelsen said. “I was nervous for them, but they got the stop.”
Ethan Montiel said he had full faith in the defense when it went out for the last play.
“I knew walking on the field, I was like, this is our defense. We got it. This is us. This is what we’ve worked for literally all summer,” Montiel said. “We got the one moment to show that we have the best defense in the state, and I think we did a pretty good job proving it.”
Montiel said the message in the huddle was to take a breath and play one more play.
“The last play doesn’t matter. It didn’t matter if we got a tackle for loss or they just scored that touchdown,” Montiel said. “That last play has no effect on us whatsoever. We just have to line up and play one more.”
Keiran Govan said the defense talks all the time about staying off the roller coaster.
“Our conversation was just get a stop. That’s what we do,” Govan said. “I think we are one of the best defenses in the state, and we went out there and we proved that.”
Cornelsen said the defense spent the night cleaning up after the offense and special teams.
“There was times we just put them in horrible situations, whether we dropped the punt, we didn’t move the ball, we get stalled out,” Cornelsen said. “They just found ways to keep them out of the end zone and get those stops. The score doesn’t look like it, but you go in that many overtimes, they’re going to put some points on the board.”
Cutbirth led Republic with 122 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries and caught the 34-yard pass. Lashley ran 28 times for 120 yards and two touchdowns, and Cornelsen had 66 yards and a touchdown on nine carries and completed two of four passes for 42 yards. Republic ran 58 times for 315 yards and finished with 357 total yards. Stiffler ran 21 times for 119 yards and two touchdowns and completed 10 of 13 passes for 61 yards, and Nichols caught seven of them for 53 yards. Carthage finished with 229 yards.
Cooper Cornelsen said Republic will have film on Sunday.
“My dad has said a million times this isn’t our Super Bowl, and so we’re going to continue to get to work,” Cornelsen said. “This wasn’t our final goal. We’re trying to play for a state championship, so we’re going to get back to work next week.”
Republic beat Neosho 47-35 on Sept. 25. The district championship game is Friday, Nov. 13, at Republic.
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