Republic and Glendale combined for more than 1,000 yards of total offense, but it was Republic that dominated on the scoreboard in a 62-30 win. The Tigers racked up 420 rushing yards, and had 100 yards through the air.
Jace DuVall ran for 187 yards on 10 carries, with three touchdowns, in one of his best performances of the year.
“For me every week it’s the same. It’s just following my blocks,” DuVall says. ” did great. On my run, they were 20 yards downfield still blocking for me. That’s the difference between a touchdown and just a 20-yard run.”
Jerney Jones carried the ball 10 times for 128 yards and a touchdown. David Feil had 87 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries for the Tigers.
Blake Fanning had two receptions for 100 yards, including an 84-yard touchdown. He was also all over the field from the linebacker spot on defense. Did he have more fun on offense or defense?
“Oh, that’s tough. I think that’s the longest I’ve ever run on an offensive play in my life,” he says. “It was pretty fun on offense tonight.”
Defensively, Fanning says there was an adjustment period as the Tigers faced the Falcons’ fast-paced offense for the first couple of possessions.
“It’s so hard in practice to understand the pace of play, because they come up and they line up so quick, and we haven’t seen that all year. That was a tough thing to adjust to,” he says.
“You can’t simulate that in practice,” says coach Wes Beachler. “I think once we recognized the speed of the game and got going, we were able to settle in and play a little better on the defensive side of the ball.”
The Falcons took advantage of that learning curve, scoring touchdowns on their first two possessions. Republic answered each of those touchdowns with scoring drives of their own. Both ended with touchdowns by DuVall — one four yards and one 42 yards.
Yocum Automotive Drive of the Game
With just 37 seconds left in the first half, the Tigers took over on their own 35 yard line, leading 34-22 after a Glendale touchdown. The drive started on a 47-yard run by Jace Duvall. After an incomplete pass, Jake Smith connected with Blake Fanning for a 16-yard pass, with a personal foul tacked onto the end of the play. With the clock running down, Smith took the snap, ran off the right side of the line, and lunged into the end zone, scoring a touchdown with no time on the clock. The score gave Republic a 41-22 cushion at halftime and capped the Yocum Automotive Drive of the Game.
The Tigers took the lead for the first time on the very next drive by Glendale. The Falcons fumbled the ball after a reception, Tryston Ellison scooped it up and scampered 48 yards to the end zone to make the score 21-16 Republic.
After another stop, the Tigers got an 18 yard touchdown run by Jerney Jones to stretch their lead to 27-16.
In the 2nd quarter, Republic scored an an 85-yard scoring drive, capped by the 84-yard pass from Smith to Fanning. They led 34-16.
Glendale scored again to cut the lead to 34-22, and it looked like the score might stay that way until halftime. But the Tigers drove 64 yards on four plays, and Jake Smith dove into the end zone with no time left on the clock to make the score 41-22 at the half.
In the second half, the Tigers scored three more times, on a six yard run by Smith, a 56 yard run by Duvall, and a two yard run by David Feil.
The win improves Republic’s record to 6-4, after winning only three games last season.
“It’s great. I don’t want it to end next week,” says DuVall. “I want to keep it rolling for as long as we can and get as many as we can.”
For Glendale quarterback Alex Austin, it was a record-setting night in a losing cause. Austin completed 62 passes in 89 attempts. Both those numbers are national records for a single game.
The prolific passing attack didn’t translate into an especially effective offense. Glendale averaged eight yards per completion, and less than six yards per pass attempt. Republic averaged about ten yards per rushing attempt.
The Tigers advance to the district semifinals against Parkview. The Vikings beat Branson Friday, 35-6. Next week’s game will be played at JFK Stadium in Springfield.