CARTHAGE — The chance of Caden Kabance catching a touchdown pass on senior night dipped quite a bit when he made the transition from receiver to quarterback for the Carthage football team in the offseason.
Of course, it still wasn't a 0% chance.
With 27 seconds left in the first half on Friday night, the senior got back to his varsity roots. A fourth-and-long play in the red zone saw junior running back Luke Gall deliver an 11-yard lob that was hauled in by Kabance in the end zone, giving Carthage a 21-7 lead over Republic just before halftime.
"I'm not sure if I should say how long we've had that play in our playbook," Kabance said, laughing. "But I was eager. I was very eager for it to get called."
The score was part of a 21-point midgame surge by Carthage, which staved off a pesky Republic offense down the stretch for a 35-14 win on senior night at David Haffner Stadium.
The triumph lifted undefeated Carthage, ranked No. 2 in Class 5, to 8-0 on the season. It also marked head coach Jon Guidie's 150th victory with Carthage.
"I've been here a long time and played in a lot of games," Guidie said. "I've had some great coaches and some great players. It's a credit to these guys right here, players we've had in the past and all of the coaches that have come through. … I'm very blessed to be able to be here this long and in one place and have the success that we've had."
The first chilly Friday night in southwest Missouri saw COC frontrunner Carthage put together yet another well-rounded performance.
Offensively, CHS rolled as it scored touchdowns on five of seven drives. Then on defense, Carthage bent but seldom broke against a formidable Republic rushing attack that relied heavily on the legs of quarterback Avery Moody, who amassed 112 yards and two touchdowns on 34 carries.
Perhaps the biggest defensive stand by Carthage came midway through the fourth quarter as it tried to protect a 28-14 lead. Republic, like it had done multiple times throughout the night, marched deep into Carthage territory before a quarterback sack brought up a fourth-and-15 from the Carthage 30-yard line.
An incomplete pass on the next play forced a turnover on downs, and after a 15-yard penalty by Republic, Carthage took over at its own 45. The next play saw Gall break a series of tackles for a 55-yard touchdown run that all but put the game on ice.
In total, the Carthage defense forced two turnovers on downs and had one takeaway on an interception by Clay Kinder late in the final quarter.
"They (Republic) are a much-improved football team and they played great tonight," Guidie said. "It's a hard offense to defend. I thought our kids in the second half bowed up at times and made a couple key stops for us. and that's what we wanted at halftime.
"(Takeaways were) huge because, otherwise, they're getting three or four yards a pop and going for it on fourth down and moving the chains and taking the time off."
It didn't take Carthage long to get going offensively. After forcing a Republic punt on the night's first drive, CHS marched 74 yards in a matter of two plays. The first pickup was a 27-yard rush by Kabance, and then Gall found paydirt on a 47-yard scamper to make it a 7-0 ballgame less than 3 ½ minutes into the first quarter.
Republic, however, showed on its ensuing possession that it wouldn't make things easy on the Carthage defense over the course of the game. A nine-play, 77-yard drive milked more than 4 ½ minutes off the clock and resulted in a 4-yard touchdown run by Moody, tying the game at 7-all late in the opening stanza.
Following another stout offensive drive by Carthage that led to a 2-yard touchdown run by Kabance, the Republic offense continued to find success with its run-heavy, flexbone attack as it again drove into the red zone.
Then the Carthage defense bowed its neck.
A quarterback sack by junior defensive tackle Micah Lindsey resulted in an 8-yard loss on second down, forcing Republic to work from behind the sticks for the first time of the night.
Two plays later, a fourth-down pass by Republic fell incomplete, leading to a turnover on downs that gave Carthage the ball back with a few minutes remaining in the half.
"I think that might have been the play of the game — that fourth-down stop," Guidie said.
Then came the rare Gall-to-Kabance connection that put Carthage up by two scores right before the game's intermission.
"We kept itching to call it," Guidie said of the trick play. "Last week, we threw a halfback pass to Hudson (Moore) and missed him. So it was good to see (Gall) connect tonight."
CHS received the kick to start the second half and marched 92 yards in four plays, with the final play of the drive resulting in a 53-yard touchdown run by Gall, who finished with 206 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries.
Kabance ended up doing a little bit of everything, scoring on a touchdown run and a touchdown catch as well as booting a 40-yard punt that backed Republic up to its on 6-yard line late in the third quarter.
"He's Mr. Everything, isn't he?" Guidie said of Kabance. "He's just a great kid to coach and work with every single day. He's just so smart and runs the offense very well."
Carthage wraps up the regular season with a road game against Nixa next Friday. A win would secure the first outright COC title for Carthage since 2016.
"I think it would mean a lot to these guys," Guidie said. "They deserve it. They put the work in, they put the time in. They show up every day with great attitudes. We had some goals at the beginning of the season, and that was certainly one of them."
-Jared Porter, Joplin Globe Sports

CARTHAGE 35, REPUBLIC 14
Republic   7     0     7     0—14 
Carthage  7    14    7     7—35
SCORING SUMMARY
CAR: Luke Gall, 47 run ( Chris Mejia kick)
REP: Avery Moody, 4 run (Marco Donjuan kick)
CAR: Caden Kabance, 2 run (Mejia kick)
CAR: Kabance, 11 pass from Gall (Mejia kick)
CAR: Gall, 53 run (Mejia kick)
REP: Moody, 1 run (Donjuan kick)
CAR: Gall, 55 run (Mejia kick)