The Joplin Eagles got back to playing their style of football and it showed up on the scoreboard with a 41-14 win over Republic on Friday at Junge Field.
Joplin (3-3) built a two-score lead in the first half and dictated the pace of play for the remainder of the contest, with the defense pitching a shutout in the second half against the Tigers (2-4).
“We did a good job this week of setting the tone and the pace of playing our style of football,” Joplin coach Curtis Jasper said. “We did a good job of slowing things down in the fourth quarter to take time off the clock and sealing the victory.”
Joplin’s defense allowed a score on the Tigers’ opening possession and another near the two-minute mark of the first half. In the second half, the Eagles forced a fumble by Jayden Holt, added an interception by Dominic Simmons and forced the Tigers into several punts and turnover-on-downs on the way to hanging a zero on the scoreboard.
“I am super excited with the defense and the way they gelled as the game went on,” Jasper said. “I thought we tackled much better. We did a good job of getting a lot of people flying to the ball and gang tackling, which were all things we worked really hard on this week in practice. You could see they built their confidence as the game went on.”
“It was mostly just the physicality and doing things right that we had to fix,” defensive end Jacob Prosser said. “(Shutting them out in the second half) was probably one of the biggest things we have done this year. At practice we preach about doing the little things right, that showed up tonight.”
Joplin’s offense wasted no time finding the scoreboard to open the game, as the Eagles started on offense and drove 58 yards on eight plays, with quarterback Always Wright faking a screen pass before finding wideout Keaton Renfro streaking up the sideline for a 29-yard touchdown.
Republic answered back on their first possession, converting on three third-down plays during an 11-play drive that culminated in a 21-yard passing score from quarterback Gavyn Beckner to Landon Porter on third down to tie the game at 7-7 with 4:01 left in the opening quarter.
Wright and Renfro hooked up again on the next Joplin possession on a 3-yard completion for a touchdown with 2:15 left in the opening quarter to put the Eagles back on top 13-7.
“He did great,” Wright said of Renfro. “I love that kid. He is a reliable guy for me, and I can always depend on him to come through.”
After the Joplin defense forced Republic into a punt, the Eagles found paydirt five plays into their ensuing drive when Wright found a wide-open Nathan Glades over the middle for a 66-yard touchdown to give Joplin a 20-7 advantage with 11:20 to play in the first half.
Both teams traded possessions before Republic put on a 13-play drive that went for 78 yards and ended with quarterback Avery Moody finding the end zone from 2 yards out with 2:12 left in the half to trim the lead to 20-14.
Taking possession with 2:09 remaining at their own 35-yard line, the Eagles orchestrated an 11-play drive that ended with Wright passing for his fourth touchdown of the first half, a 1-yard completion to Terrance Gibson, to make the score 27-14 with 13.2 ticks left on the clock, sending the Eagles into the intermission with a two-score lead.
Joplin forced Republic into a fumble to open the second half, with Prosser falling on it, but the Eagles turned the ball right back over with a fumble by Glades.
Joplin’s defense forced a three-and-out punt, with the offense taking advantage, using a 66-yard run by Glades to set up a 3-yard touchdown pass from Wright to Gibson to give the Eagles a 34-14 lead with 7:32 left in the third.
Joplin’s final score of the game came late when freshman running back Quinton Renfro scored his second touchdown in as many weeks, ripping off a 59-yard run to the end zone with 1:41 left in regulation to put the Eagles on top 41-14.
“You don’t see that out of freshman running backs, making one cut, sticking and going,” Glades said of Renfro. “I am proud of how he finished off every run he had tonight.”
STATS
Joplin gained 522 yards of offense on 64 plays, while the defense limited Republic to 202 yards of offense on 51 plays.
After finishing last week with three turnovers, Wright bounced back with a strong performance, finishing the game by completing 23-of-25 passes for 262 yards and five touchdowns.
“I think the kid is unflappable,” Jasper said. “He plays several sports at a high level, and no one is going to have perfect nights, but he does a good job of learning, being coachable and continuing to get better.”
Glades, who missed last week with a knee sprain, returned as the starter and carried the ball 22 times for 177 yards and caught five passes for 101 yards and a touchdown.
“Doing my rehab over the last two weeks, I knew I was going to be able to come out and perform,” Glades said. “I didn’t perform how I wanted to, but I am proud of the way my teammates performed around me. We bonded this week and came together as a family instead of focusing on the individual. I saw great effort and constant focus all week. Everyone was keeping each other accountable all week, and I was so proud of that.”
Keaton Renfro caught a team-high 10 passes for 91 yards and two touchdowns, with Quinton Renfro had 11 carries for 74 yards and touchdown.
Beckner completed 8-of-14 passes for 64 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Moody carried nine times for 55 yards and a touchdown.
UP NEXT
Joplin travels to Carthage (5-0) for a 7 p.m. matchup at David Haffner Stadium.
SCORING SUMMARY
Republic 7 7 0 0 — 14
Joplin 13 14 7 7 — 41
FIRST QUARTER
JHS—Keaton Renfro 29 pass from Always Wright (Keaton Huff kick)
RHS—Landon Porter 21 pass from Gavyn Beckner (Marco Donjuan kick)
JHS—Renfro 3 pass from Wright (kick fail)
SECOND QUARTER
JHS—Nathan Glades 66 pass from Wright (Huff kick)
RHS—Avery Moody 2 run (Donjuan kick)
JHS—Terrance Gibson 1 pass from Wright (Huff kick)
THIRD QUARTER
JHS—Gibson 3 pass from Wright (Huff kick)
FOURTH QUARTER
JHS—Quinton Renfro 59 run (Huff kick)
