BELOIT, Ohio (WKBN) – West Branch’s 12-game win streak was snapped in Niles by Jefferson, 41-37, in the Division IV Region 13 championship game. The Warriors’ two losses last year were by a total of nine points (to Jefferson and Canfield).
Entering his third season at the helm, Tim Cooper has guided the Warriors to a 25-3 record – the most wins in a two-year span in school history.
West Branch is seeking their fourth consecutive league championship.
This summer, coach Cooper views the importance of finding leaders for his group. “We have a small senior class for the first time in a while, so it’ll be important to develop leaders over the course of the off-season and preseason. A lot of our young guys [did gain] experience playing [last year] so they’ll have to use that experience.”
A year ago, Dru DeShields finished his senior campaign by throwing for 3932 yards (46 TDs) and rushing for another 16 scores and 679 yards. Now, the keys to the offense will be turned over to senior Beau Alazaus – who completed 34 of 53 passes (64.2%) and tossed for 379 yards (3 TDs) in relief of DeShields.
“Beau’s going to be the first player to be in our offensive system for four years,” says Cooper. “He has as good of a grasp of the offense as anyone. He can make every throw on the field, and I can’t wait to see the success that will follow him.”
The offense returns Boston Mulinix, who ran for 1391 yards (19 TDs) as a sophomore. His classmate Joey Jackson is also back in the fold at his wideout position after catching 65 passes for 991 yards and 11 scores a year ago. Another pass catcher who’s back in camp is junior Anthony Perry (47 catches, 888 yards, 9 TDs). Perry led the team in yards per catch (18.9) last fall.
The offensive line will be young. “We’re looking for Dom Slimon, Cam Summers and Jax Brooks to really use their experience to anchor that positional group,” states Cooper. “We were able to get a couple of guys valuable experience last year due to injuries [to our starters].”
The defense graduated three of their top four tacklers (Thomas Egli, Trent Stryffler, Michael Kanagy) but welcomed back six returning starters including senior linebacker Nick Love.
“Nicks had a very good off-season,” points out Cooper. “We’re expecting him to be a [key] player after starting last season – he knows what we’re expecting from the unit.”
The Warriors allowed an average of 23.5 points per game, right on par with the year prior of 23.1 in 2021.
“We need to be relentless on the defensive side of the ball,” Cooper indicates. “We need to have an attack mindset like we do on offense. Our staff believes that we’ll be much improved on that side of the ball.”
West Branch is set to open the 2023 season with a trip to Canfield to take on the defending Division 3 state champions on August 18.
West Branch Warriors
Fast Facts
Head Coach: Tim Cooper, 2nd season (25-3)
2022 Record: 12-2 (5-0), 1st place in EBC
Last 5 Years: 41-17 (70.7%)
Home Field: Clinton Heacock Stadium
League: Eastern Buckeye Conference
Base Offense: Spread
Base Defense: 4-2-5
Returning Starters
Offense: 3
Defense: 6
2022 Team Stats
Scoring Offense: 45.4
Scoring Defense: 23.5
Total Offense: 472.9
Rushing Offense: 165.0
Passing Offense: 307.9
Total Defense: 314.0
2022 Individual Leaders
Passing: Dru DeShields – 3932 yards, 63.9% (269-421), 46 TDs
Rushing: Boston Mulinix – 1391 yards, 7.1 avg, 19 TDs
Receiving: Christian Martig – 1140 yards, 13.9 avg, 15 TDs
Tackles: Thomas Egli – 97
Interceptions: Garin Harlan, Michael Kanagy & Christian Martig – 2
2022 Results
Jefferson 41 Warriors 37*
Warriors 41 Buchtel 33*
Warriors 54 Struthers 35*
Warriors 52 Field 20*
Warriors 48 Salem 38
Warriors 42 Carrollton 20
Warriors 42 Alliance 35
Warriors 53 Marlington 16
Warriors 57 Minerva 7
Warriors 48 Howland 15
Warriors 38 Ridgewood 14
Warriors 49 Revere 7
Warriors 43 Woodridge 13
Canfield 35 Warriors 31
*-playoff
2022 EBC Standings
West Branch – 5-0 (12-2)
Alliance – 4-1 (8-3)
Carrollton – 3-2 (7-4)
Salem – 2-3 (6-5)
Marlington – 1-4 (1-9)
Minerva – 0-5 (0-9)
2023 Schedule
Aug. 18 – at Canfield
Aug. 25 – at Woodridge
Sept. 1 – Girard
Sept. 8 – at Ridgewood
Sept. 15 – Howland
Sept. 22 – at Minerva
Sept. 29 – Marlington
Oct. 6 – Alliance
Oct. 13 – Carrollton
Oct. 20 – at Salem