Republic takes control early in district opener, routs Central

Special teams mistakes by Central helped Republic take control from the start, as the Tigers scored two touchdowns before Central ran an offensive play in a 60–7 district playoff victory Friday night.
Gavin Lawhon recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff, setting up a 23-yard touchdown run by Matthew Pelfrey two plays later. On the next kickoff, Greg Hicks recovered an untouched ball for Republic, leading to Owen Klier’s 12-yard scoring run and a 14–0 lead.
Pelfrey added his second touchdown on a two-yard run late in the first quarter to make it 21–0. With the big lead, Republic began rotating in reserve players.
“It’s hard to prepare for that, because you don’t know how fast, when to pull guys out,” said coach Ryan Cornelsen. “I saw one of our starters start to limp after 21 points. I’m like, all right, get ’em out.”
Trenten Coleman’s one-yard run pushed the lead to 28–0 before Central scored its only touchdown on a 16-yard pass from Josh Jensen to Will Vernor. Coleman’s second touchdown run made it 34–7 at halftime.
In the second half, James Richmond scored twice on 18-yard runs, and Nolan Lashley broke free for a 33-yard touchdown run - his first varsity score. Freshman Kayden Smith capped the scoring with an interception return touchdown in the final seconds.
Republic’s ground attack generated 454 yards, led by Pelfrey with 109 yards on 12 carries. Coleman ran 10 times for 74 yards, while Richmond added 69 yards on six attempts. The Tiger defense held Central to 82 total yards.
“You’re trying to get as many in as you can, but that’s fun for them,” Cornelsen said. “I thought some of those senior defensive guys that came in early and replaced some of those starters did a good job of stopping the run and allowed us to keep them out of the end zone.”
The game marked the return of quarterback Preston McCracken, who missed several games with an injury. He played only a few plays and didn’t carry the ball or throw a pass.
Republic (8–2) advances to host Springfield Hillcrest in this week’s district semifinals. Hillcrest advanced with a 19–18 win over Parkview. Central ends its season at 0–10.