Football Preview: Republic Tigers vs. Webb City Cardinals
Republic is 2-8 against Webb City since September of 2017 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Republic Tigers will welcome the Webb City Cardinals at 7:00 p.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, both will really light up the scoreboard.
Webb City is hoping to do what Joplin couldn't on Friday: put an end to Republic's winning streak, which now stands at four games. Republic walked away with a 49-38 win over Joplin. 49 seems to be a good number for the Tigers as the team scooped up a victory with the same number of points in their previous game.
It was another big night for Preston McCracken, who rushed for 327 yards and six touchdowns while picking up 9.9 yards per carry. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 2.4 rushing touchdowns per game. The team also got some help courtesy of Owen Klier, who rushed for 81 yards and a touchdown on only ten carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: Republic was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 502 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 176 rushing yards in five consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Webb City came into Friday's game having lost three straight, but that streak is now in the rearview. They snuck past Neosho with a 34-28 win on Friday.
The match pitted two dominant signal callers against one another in Jackson Lucas and Cade Spiva. Lucas had a great game and rushed for 106 yards and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, Spiva was balling out in the loss, rushing for 136 yards and a touchdown, while also throwing for 109 yards on ten of 20 attempts.
Republic's victory bumped their record up to 4-1. As for Webb City, their win bumped their record up to 2-3.
Friday's match might be decided in the on the ground. Republic has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 338.6 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Webb City struggles in that department as they've been averaging 255.4. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Republic won a contest that couldn't have been any closer when the teams last played back in November of 2023, slipping by Webb City 21-20. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Webb City's Gabe Johnson, who rushed for 161 yards and a touchdown on only 15 carries, and also threw for 80 yards and a touchdown on only five passes. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Republic still be able to contain Johnson? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
