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COLUMBIA — With five seconds remaining, Republic head coach Ryan Cornelsen called a timeout to give his Tigers one last play and one more opportunity in the school’s first-ever state championship.
It wasn’t a dream scenario where it could turn into a walk-off victory with players hoisting a player off the field. Republic was down 19, and the game had been well out of reach for several minutes of game time.
But Cornelsen looked behind him at seemingly the entire city of Republic that made the three-hour drive to Columbia. A spark created by the Tigers football team ignited a fire in a community that stuck with them until the end.
He then looked at his team. There was never a moment Cornelsen saw any quit in it — not during the regular season, the playoffs or the state championship game — he was going to give the Tigers one last play.
“They didn’t want to quit,” Cornelsen said. “If we were going out, we were going out senior. That’s why I called the timeouts — ‘Let’s have one final play and take a shot.’ We knew the game was over, but there’s no quit in our kids. I think that’s the perfect example of that they’re going to play to the final whistle, no matter what the score is.”
More: Republic football’s historic season ends with Class 5 championship loss to Cardinal Ritter
Republic’s Wyatt Woods (5) becomes emotional after the Republic Tigers fell to the Cardinal Ritter Lions 38-25 in the Class 5 State Championship football game at Faurot Field in Columbia, Mo. on Friday, Dec. 1, 2023.
Star quarterback Wyatt Woods dropped back to pass as Memphis-commit receiver James Rexroat ran for the endzone. Woods threw the ball deep, Rexroat jumped up and caught it as time expired and came down with the ball for a 31-yard touchdown.
The scoring play didn’t matter as Cardinal Ritter stormed the field to celebrate its 38-25 win in…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/republic-football-never-quit-historic-060005090.html
Author : Springfield News-Leader
Publish date : 2023-12-02 06:00:05
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