Nixa dominated the front line defensively, shutting down Republic’s offense in a 23-7 win at Tigers Stadium Friday. The Eagles held Republic to only five first downs in the game — two of them on Nixa penalties. The Tigers managed only 116 yards of total offense.
The Eagles broke on top in the first half after Republic turned the ball over on its first possession. Logan Tyler drilled a 35-yard field goal to make it 3-0 Nixa.
The score stayed that way until late in the 2nd quarter, when drove 14 plays and 72 yards. Jake Smith completed an 11-yard touchdown pass to Blake Fanning to give Republic the lead 7-3. That was the score at halftime.
The second half was all Nixa, though. The Eagles opened the half with a 14-play, 66-yard drive that ended with a three-yard touchdown run by Alec Murphy. The drive was extended after Nixa lined up to kick a field goal and the Tigers committed a roughing-the-kicker penalty to allow Nixa to take a 10-7 lead.
On the next drive, Tyler hit his second field goal from 32 yards out to make it 13-7. And Nixa got another touchdown run from Murphy on its next possession to push the lead to 20-7. A third field goal by Tyler accounted for the final 23-7 margin.
Yocum Automotive Drive of the Game
Republic had only one sustained drive all night, and it took up much of the second quarter. Trailing 3-0, the Tigers took over on their own 28 yard line with just over eight minutes left in the half. Their drive encompassed 14 plays and included a little bit of everything — including a punt that was invalidated by a roughing-the-kicker penalty. It ended with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Jake Smith to Blake Fanning, giving the Tigers their only lead of the game at 7-3.
Republic failed to get a first down in the second half. Coach Wes Beachler knew Nixa’s defense would present a big challenge heading into the game.
“I knew we were going to have a hard time moving the ball and putting up points. I was just hoping we’d make some plays, and we just didn’t make enough plays. We had some opportunities. We had some dropped passes. Those things are going to happen. But on a night like tonight, we just needed to make plays and we just didn’t do it,” he says.
The injury-plagued defense, on the other hand, played well most of the night, limiting Nixa to just two touchdowns.
“We’ve got a lot of holes to fill ,” Beachler says. “I think there’s some things missing. But they played very well under two sets of conditions: one, a lot of injuries, and two, we played on one half of the field the entire first half, it seemed like.”
Nixa ended the game with 285 total yards, mostly in the second half. Logan Tyler led the way with 10 carries for 73 yards.
Beachler says the loss of Jerney Jones to injury this week made things especially difficult for his offense.
“Jerney’s a threat that you’ve got to respect. I think without him in there, they thought they could really load the box, and they did that,” Beachler says. “I feel like they’re a very good defense, and without the threat of Jerney Jones breaking through the front line they were able to put eight guys in the box and really sell out.
“Physically, at this point in time, particularly tonight, they were better than us up front. And what do you do? If another team’s physically better than you, you’re going to have to make some plays and do some good things and play really well. And we just weren’t able to overcome a physically very gifted and very disciplined defense.”
The loss dropped Republic from the #1 seed in the district to #3. That means Republic will host the #6 seed, Springfield Glendale, next Friday night.