By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
After committing three turnovers in Webb City territory in the first half, visiting Republic got a key defensive stop bracketed by two fourth-quarter touchdowns to escape with a 27-21 victory Friday night in Central Ozark Conference action at Cardinal Stadium.
Now winners of three straight in the series, the Class 5 No. 6 Tigers didn’t have a lead over the 3rd-ranked Cardinals until senior quarterback Preston McCracken scored on a 2-yard run with 1:25 remaining in the game. Republic trailed for most of the night.
“I was really proud of our kids,” Tigers coach Ryan Cornelsen said. “When we made those mistakes, turnovers and penalties that really hurt us, to keep our composure and just keep playing hard and keep doing what we thought we wanted to do all along. That took a lot of effort from them, took a lot of pride in our program, so I couldn’t be prouder.”
Republic (5-1) turned it over on 3 of its first 4 possessions––Webb City’s Slade Hurd intercepted a 4th-down heave in the end zone, and the Tigers fumbled from the Cardinals’ 33- and 29-yard lines.
A roughing-the-kicker penalty kept Webb City’s opening 8-minute drive alive, and the Cardinals capitalized with a 2-yard touchdown run by Abel Getz on the 17th play.
After Webb City’s Trevor Lofland recovered the first fumble at the 31, Mason Williams got loose for a 67-yard touchdown run that made it 14-0 following Diego Aldrete’s extra point.
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Republic cut it to a touchdown seconds later when McCracken ran 67 yards untouched for a score, and it remained a 14-7 game into the third quarter.
The Tigers opened the second half with a 68-yard scoring drive and a 5-yard McCracken touchdown run but still trailed 14-13 after a missed extra point.
Webb City’s ensuing drive featured a 55-yard run by Williams on 3rd-and-9, and 6 plays later he scored on a 7-yard run that extended the Cardinals’ lead to 21-13 with 4:33 left in the third.
Republic still trailed by 8 going into the fourth, but by then had driven into Webb City territory. Matthew Pelfrey’s 12-yard touchdown run with 10:28 left got the Tigers within 2, and then wide receiver Brennan Overstreet, after getting a second handoff on the two-point conversion, passed to McCracken for the score to tie the game.
Their lead gone, the Cardinals started their next drive at the 8 and quickly passed the 30. On a 3rd-and-7, Republic was flagged for pass interference to move the ball to midfield and Webb City gained two more first downs before getting stopped for no gain on a 4th-and-1 at the Republic 36.
“That was a huge stop,” Cornelsen said. “Those guys gave up a few big plays but other than that they played really well. Great performance by our defense, we’ve just got to take away the big plays and the penalties and get them off the field a little faster.”
It took Republic’s offense three plays to cross midfield, and a 21-yard run by McCracken moved the ball inside the 10. The quarterback kept it again from the 2 for the go-ahead score.
“Our backs were against the wall a little bit, things weren’t working just great,” Cornelsen said. “They just kept finding ways to get yards, get first downs and find ways to get in the end zone. That last drive was a big drive to go down and punch it in with a great effort by our offense.”
Republic’s defense ended the game with two incompletions and a sack.
“I thought offensively and defensively we played with great effort tonight,” Webb City coach Ryan McFarland said. “They’re a hard group to tackle because they’re big and they run hard. I didn’t think we tackled as well as we’re capable of. Offensively we had way too many pre-snap penalties that got us behind the chain and they’re good on defense and those situations are hard to overcome.”
Republic totaled 374 yards offensively. McCracken rushed 23 times for 210 yards and 3 scores, Owen Klier added 57, Izaiah Hull 53 and Jin Villasica 36. Ethan Montiel had 7 tackles and a sack.
“We were behind, things looked bad, we were creating our own penalties and problems and then we went and found a way to win,” Cornelsen said. “I think that’s something you can learn from. We’ve got to be better, you can’t keep doing those things and expect to beat good teams. We’ve got to clean those things up and be better next week.”
Williams led Webb City (4-2) with 185 yards and 2 touchdowns on 15 carries. Talan Haslip added 36, Braden Strickland 25 and Abel Getz 19 and a score. Trae Turner had two catches for 10 yards. Gavin Stodghill had 8 tackles.
“When things don’t work out you can always second guess what you did,” McFarland said. “The biggest takeaway from this is this team, there’s a great chance we’re going to see them again. Our district’s loaded with them and Neosho and Carthage and Branson so we’re going to see each other down the road. I think there are some positives we can take from this but I keep going back to missed tackles and penalties. It’s hard to beat good teams when you do that.”
