Republic Tigers push Webb City but suffer road loss

    Republic put itself in position to pull a big upset at Webb City, but the Cardinals were too much to overcome in the fourth quarter, escaping with a 35-14 win over Republic at Webb City, Friday. Republic had the ball in the fourth quarter with a chance to drive down the field and tie the game, but the Webb City defense stopped the Tigers, setting up two late touchdowns to account for the final margin.
    "Defensively, that's about as well as we've played since I've been here," said coach Ryan Cornelsen. "The plays they scored, our offense three-and-outed, and they had to go right back in there, and that's a big offensive line to not get to rest against. So I was really proud of the defense and how hard they played. All of them played well, we just didn't execute in the red zone, and that's a pretty good team to not do it."
    Republic could have been even closer to the upset, except for two missed opportunities in the first half. The Tigers missed two field goals after driving the ball into the red zone. The only Republic touchdown of the first half was a fumble recovery and 60-yard return by Kendell Curbow to give Republic an early lead. But Republic's failure to score points on two of its drives allowed Webb City to go into halftime with a 14-7 lead.
    Coming out of halftime, Webb City got the ball first and scored again to take a 21-7 advantage. Neither team scored for the rest of the third quarter, but at the beginning of the fourth, Republic struck back. Connor Sandridge rumbled to the end zone on a 23-yard run to end a 10-play drive, pulling the Tigers with seven points at 21-14.
    On the next Webb City posssession, Gavyn Beckner got into the backfield and forced a fumble to give Republic the ball back around midfield. But the Tigers were unable to take advantage, and a Webb City defender knocked away a long fourth-down pass intended for James Rexroat to end the Republic opportunity.
    Cornelsen said his players were not satisfied to have played Webb City close.
"They were upset. They know we're not in it to deal with moral victories," he said. "There's some good there that we'll take away from it and we'll try to improve on that. I feel like we're drastically better right now than we were at game one, but losing's never acceptable. I've got to have a better plan from the gun if that's what's working, and we've got to find ways to score in the red zone."
    Webb City out-gained Republic 356 yards to 186. Sandridge led the Tigers offensively with 117 yards on 17 carries He also had Republic's only offensive touchdown. Wyatt Woods completed six of 16 passes for 33 yards. He rushed the ball five times for 30 yards.
    Webb City improves to 2-1. Republic is 1-2. The Tigers are home against Neosho, Friday.