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By Chris Parker & Josh Hall
Republic has a new head coach in Dustin Baldwin. Baldwin comes from Neosho where he resurrected the program over the past four seasons that included a 13-9 record over the past two years.
Republic finished last season with two wins and lost to Baldwin’s Neosho squad 36-7 in the Class 5, District 5 quarterfinals.
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Baldwin took the Republic job over the winter and got going full time with the team early this summer.
“The kids have worked extremely hard and have put in a lot of time. They’re good kids, trying to do the right things. We’re just trying to get better every day,” Baldwin said. “The transition has gone really smooth. Like I mentioned, the kids are working hard, they’re showing up and putting the time in to be successful, so we’ll see how it goes.”
He will have a strong anchor point to work with in senior Riley Watkins who was a third-team all-conference selection at quarterback last season. He is a dual-threat signal caller after passing for 500 yards and four touchdowns to go with 700 yards rushing and seven touchdowns as a junior.
Seniors Jake Jones and Skyler Owen along with junior Jaden Duvall will all see time at running back.
Senior Cameron Beck will play a little receiver and running back with junior Cameron Flood being another primary target in the passing game.
Jordan Gold returns to the offensive line for his junior season. The rest of the line will fill out towards the start of the season with a lot of competition for the spots.
For Baldwin, it is all about finding the right pieces to go in the right spots with his new team.
“There are some guys. We’re just trying to put all the pieces together. Their work ethic and attitudes have been great. We’re just trying to get better every day. There are some guys that can do some things, we’re just trying to put all the parts together,” Baldwin said.
Republic will run three juniors as key pieces along the defensive line with Brady Coggin, Jason Wright and Jordan Gold.
Adam Batz will be a senior leader at linebacker.
Owen will pull double duty with time on defense at defensive back in addition to his running back spot on offense.
Baldwin expects a strong season for his team in Year One.
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“Certainly we have high expectations for our players, on and off the field. I think it’s a learning process. Any time you take a new job or go to a new place; it takes the players a few weeks to adapt and figure out exactly what’s expected on the practice field. But I think the kids have done a great job,” Baldwin said. “It’s a good group of kids and they want to win and they’re working hard. They set some goals for themselves and we’re going to work hard to achieve those”
Republic opens the season on Aug. 18 at Bolivar.
