The area’s top lineman and an athletic quarterback highlight the Division IV All-Ohio football team.

East Liverpool senior defensive lineman D’Shawn Kirby and West Branch junior quarterback Jeremiah Thomas were named to the All-Ohio first team Tuesday by the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association.

Kirby helped lead the Potters to a 7-5 season that included six wins in the last seven games. He totaled 88 tackles with 30 for a loss, 11 sacks and nine quarterback hurries.

“Obviously he had a huge year just looking at his statistics,” East Liverpool coach Paul Cusick said. “It was amazing how he made plays from the defensive line that changed games. He is well deserving of the honor. He was a game changer.”

This is the fifth straight year West Branch has had a first-team All-Ohio quarterback.

Thomas was a first-year starting quarterback after playing wide receiver as a sophomore.

“I think he exceeded our expectations,” West Branch coach Tim Cooper said. “He hadn’t played quarterback since his freshman year. We knew there would be a learning curve.”

Not much.

Thomas completed 124 of 200 passes (62%) for 1,969 yards and 29 touchdowns with three interceptions and ran for 933 yards and 15 touchdowns on 112 carries (8.3).

He led the Warriors to a fifth straight Eastern Buckeye Conference title and the fifth 10-0 regular season in school history

“Jeremiah was a tremendous player for us,” Cooper said. “We wanted to get him the ball as many ways as possible and quarterback was the easiest way. We gave him some more responsibility with checking the plays at the line.”

Thomas joins a list of West Branch first-team All-Ohio quarterbacks that includes Beau Alazaus (2023), Dru DeShields (2021-22) and Brock Hillyer (2020).

“Brock was pure progression and get the ball out on time,” Cooper said. “What can you say about Dru. He would make plays that are off schedule. Beau was more of a traditional pocket passer with a big arm. With J.T. and his athleticism, we wanted to mold our game plan around more of a running game with two tight ends and sprint out stuff.

“We had good game plans in place, but ultimately they are good players.”

Gaining second-team All-Ohio honors were Beaver Local senior linebacker Kane Curran and three more West Branch players on offense — senior running back Boston Mulinix, senior receiver Joey Jackson and senior offensive lineman Dom Slimon.

Curran totaled 157 tackles, including 40 solos, with 17 for a loss and seven sacks.

Mulinix — West Branch’s career rushing leader — had his third straight 1,000-yard rushing season as he totaled 1,438 yards and 15 touchdowns on 190 carries (7.6).

“In playoff game when J.T., went down, he came through for us,” Cooper said.

“He played banged up all year (with a hip injury). He played with that from June on and never missed a practice or game. He didn’t find out how bad it was until after the season and is having surgery to get that fixed in a couple of weeks.

Jackson — West Branch’s career receiving leader — had a team-high 50 catches for 803 yards (16.1) and 12 touchdowns.

“He could take it to the house at any time,” Cooper said. “He didn’t complain about his moment. He knew he would share the moment with Anthony Perry, our other star receiver.

Slimon helped pave the way up front for the high-scoring offense that averaged 38.5 points and more than 400 yards a game. On defense, he collected 48 tackles, seven for losses, with 2 1/2 sacks, 14 quarterback pressures and two fumble recoveries.

“He was our most talented offensive and defensive linemen,” Cooper said. “He developed into a leader and was the voice of our off. line this season. We had to move him around this year because of injuries. He started at left tackle and moved to right guard and right tackle. He played all over for us this year.”

That gave West Branch four players on the first two teams in Division IV.

“I’m just excited to see all those guys put in all the work and get rewarded for it,” Cooper said.

The only area player on the All-Ohio team in Division V is Crestview senior running back Max Hawkins, a third-teamer for the second straight year.

Hawkins ran for 1,369 yards and 23 touchdowns on 162 carries (8.5) along with 11 two-point conversions this year. He scored 160 points in eight games before suffering season-ending ACL injury. The Rebels went 7-1 with him in the lineup.

Receiving honorable mention were Salem senior offensive lineman David Manges, East Liverpool senior quarterback Gavin Wright, East Liverpool senior receiver Blake Adkins, Beaver Local senior offensive lineman Carson Temple, Beaver Local senior defensive back Brock Severs, West Branch senior defensive lineman Cam Summers and West Branch senior linebacker Jack Flickinger.

Manges is Salem’s two-time captain and graded at 94.9% with 44 knockdowns and 11 pins. Manges had a clean sheet for the season with zero sacks or pressures and committed no penalties.

Adkins had 59 receptions for 1,042 yards (17.7) and 11 touchdowns — all school records.

Wright also was a Potter record setter as he completed 135 of 214 passes (63%) for 2,157 yards and 21 touchdowns and ran for 690 yards and eight touchdowns on 119 carries (5.8).

Severs was a threat of both sides of the ball. As a defensive back, he made three interceptions, returning one for a touchdown a school-record 99 yards, to go along with 60 tackles, including 25 solos and four for a loss. He had 25 catches for 501 yards (20.0) and five touchdowns and 54 carries for 265 yards (4.9) and six touchdowns.

Temple was a three-year starter on the offensive line. He had a 92% grade this season with 27 pancake blocks.

Flickinger and Summers led the Warriors’ defense that held opponents to an average of 7.2 pts per game. Flickinger totaled 101 tackles with 6 1/2 for losses and three fumble recoveries, while Summers had 87 tackles with six for losses and one fumble recovery.