By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Republic football team has made a quick climb since its last losing season four years ago. The Tigers won six games in 2021, then finished as the district runner up in 2022––and it culminated with a 12-3 season last fall that saw the program advance to the Class 5 state championship game, where the Tigers fell 38-25 to unbeaten Cardinal Ritter.
“Our kids, like most teams, put in a lot of time and effort to try to be successful and it was fun for those kids to get a chance to have that success and to play those Saturday games at home in front of big crowds, and play in great environments and find ways to win,” said head coach Ryan Cornelsen. “It was a special run for those kids and our program and community. I was very blessed to be a part of it.”
As the Tigers turn the page to 2024, they must replace a huge senior class that included half a dozen all-state performers and starters at a number of key positions around the field. Cornelsen said in his 22 years as a head coach he’s never graduated so many starters––18 in all.
“We’ve had some success at the lower levels with our freshmen and JV,” he said. “There will be a lot of opportunities for some of these kids who have been playing at that level to step into varsity roles. The biggest key will be just gaining experience. How do we win games early with that inexperience? The kids are working hard at it, and we feel like our program is in a good place. Our kids understand what the expectation is and how we do things. Now they’ve seen what success looks like and how we get there. There will just be a lot of new faces and we’ll try to figure out through the early part of the season what our strengths and weaknesses are.”
Among those starters the Tigers must replace: offensive lineman Carter Nation, a unanimous first-team selection in the Central Ozark Conference and first team all-state pick; first team COC receiver James Rexroat, who also earned third team all-state honors as a receiver and tight end after hauling in 21 passes for 592 yards and eight touchdowns and averaging close to 30 yards per catch; quarterback Wyatt Woods, a first team COC selection and second team all-state player who rushed for 1,543 yards and 19 touchdowns; running back Kanon Krol, who totaled 1,077 yards and 13 scores and earned second team COC and third team all-state honors; inside linebacker Kendell Curbow, a second team selection in the conference and all-state list; and second team all-state defensive lineman Caden White.
So, who’s returning this fall? Offensively the list of returners starts with senior guard Blaze Mooneyham and senior center Auston Key. Senior Cannon Ellison comes back with experience at receiver. Junior linemen Landon Harper and Chance Gimlin both earned some playing time towards the end of last season. That leaves plenty of competition to fill out the rest of the offensive unit.
Junior Preston McCracken and sophomore Trenten Coleman have been splitting varsity reps at quarterback in offseason workouts. Junior Owen Klier has been getting reps at tailback. Senior Mason Fleetwood has been getting time at Z receiver. Senior CJ Uhl was injured last year and served as the long snapper; he’ll play tight end this year and has looked good in summer workouts, Cornelsen said. He’s already drawing college attention for his snapping abilities.
“We have pretty good depth at certain spots and a lot of competition,” Cornelsen said. “There are a lot of guys in those positions we’re trying to figure out. We’ve been rotating three different fullbacks all summer. It’s early for me to say who those guys will be, but we feel confident in a lot of different kids and it could be by committee for us. The rest of the backfield, it’s by committee. There are quite a few guys there and we’re not sure who will be the starter.”
Republic’s defensive unit will be led by twin brothers Logan Hunt and Keegan Hunt who play on the line, with Logan garnering first team COC honors as a junior. Senior Cameron Allen returns after playing safety last season; he’ll move to linebacker this fall. And junior Kaleb Norman also returns at linebacker.
Senior Ryder Davis will be the only returning special teams player and is entering his third year as the team’s punt returner; he also played some in the defensive backfield.
“When you’ve done it as long as I have, you graduate good classes and you hope that happens every year, that that senior class is a good one and they play well and graduate,” Cornelsen said. “You put the pieces of the puzzle together for the next year. Really it comes down to our kids are doing a good job working year-round. We’re lifting even before school, during school, after school, all summer. Our program is in a real healthy place as far as the kids’ level of effort. It’s going to be tough early because I don’t know what our strengths and weaknesses are until we get going. But when you go through that experience you get extra practices because you’re playing 15 weeks and you get an understanding of what it takes to get there and how special it is when you are there. Hopefully that’s helped our program and our kids’ mentality of how hard we work through the offseason. There’s a reason why.”
The Tigers won’t participate in a jamboree, and open the season at Nixa. They’ll host COC newcomer Waynesville in week two, and another newcomer in Kickapoo in week four.
“You’ve added some quality schools to the conference and the league was a gauntlet already so this just makes it tougher,” Cornelsen said. “Obviously if you get through it healthy you feel like you’re battle tested going into the playoffs but it’s a physical league. You’ve got to have some depth and play a physical style of football each week..”
