Fourth-down gambles carry Tigers past Webb City

Republic converted all five of its fourth-down tries and never punted in a 33-14 win over Webb City on Friday at Republic.

The first of those calls came on the Tigers' opening possession. A Webb City punt was downed at the Republic 1, and three plays later coach Ryan Cornelsen kept his offense on the field for fourth-and-one at the 10. Quarterback Cooper Cornelsen pulled the ball on a read play and ran 18 yards for a first down.

"You think about it, but then you also think, you know what, let's go for it. I mean, what are we gonna lose? That's just who we are," Ryan Cornelsen said. "Obviously if that goes bad, everybody's throwing stuff from the stands, and I don't blame them. That's not a normal call."

Republic ran the ball 20 straight times on the 99-yard drive, converted two more fourth downs along the way and scored on a 6-yard run by Keiran Govan on fourth-and-four. The drive took 8:51 and gave Republic a 6-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Nolan Lashley added a one-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-goal late in the half, and the Tigers led 12-0 at the break. Webb City ran 16 plays in the first half. Republic ran 37.

Lashley opened the second half with a 78-yard drive that he finished with a four-yard touchdown run. Republic then recovered an onside kick at the Webb City 48, and Lashley scored from a yard out to make it 26-0 late in the third quarter.

Webb City answered with a one-yard touchdown run by Drake Claborn, recovered an onside kick of its own and cut the lead to 26-14 on a 19-yard pass from Mason Young to Malachi Njoroge with 8:17 left.

Republic responded with another long drive and another fourth-down conversion, and Lashley's fourth touchdown, a 4-yard run with 3:17 left, closed the scoring.

Republic ran 68 times for 392 yards and did not attempt a pass. Lashley finished with 158 yards and four touchdowns on 29 carries and has 24 touchdowns this season. Govan ran for 89 yards, Hayes Porter had 52 and Lincoln Caldwell had 43. The defense held Webb City to 154 total yards.

"I challenged them. I didn't feel like early in the year we were physical enough to win big games," Ryan Cornelsen said. "We've been stressing that if we want to win big games, we've got to be more physical. And tonight we were."

Republic (6-1) hosts Carthage on Senior Night Friday at 7 p.m.