West Branch All-Ohio senior Jeremiah Thomas wrapped up his high school football career in Friday’s playoff game at Perry. (Morning Journal/Ron Firth)

PERRY — Two schools dripping with historical playoff success, including prior state titles, collided head on when West Branch traveled to Lake County Perry Friday night in a Division IV, Region 13 playoff semifinal at Alumni Stadium.

Leading 6-0 entering the fourth quarter, Perry broke through in the defensive battle when it scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns, one set up by an interception deep in West Branch territory, to blank the Warriors 21-0.

“Obviously, we’re disappointed with the result, but I can’t blame the effort of the kids, that’s for sure,” said West Branch coach Tim Cooper.

With the win, Perry (10-2) advances regional title game rematch against Cleveland Glenville next Friday. The Tarblooders advanced Friday with a 14-3 win over Mentor Lake Catholic.

“Our kids prepared really, really hard,” said Perry coach Bob Gecewich. “Our scout team gave us the best look possible and we don’t have a large roster. Our defense prepares really, really well. Our staff does a great job on that side of the ball.”

“At the end of the day you’ve got to give hats off to Perry and the players and coaches and their game plan,” said Cooper. “I’m not surprised with any of the things they did, we knew we were going to have some challenges.”

West Branch, which won a sixth consecutive Eastern Buckeye Conference title this fall and had double-digit victories for the fifth year in a row, closed out its season at 10-2.

“I thought our kids played hard and I am grateful to the seniors for all they’ve accomplished over the years,” said Cooper.

Perry, which had 307 yards of offense to the Warriors’ 273, was led by running back Carter Hopkins, who rushed for 120 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown.

West Branch was paced by junior quarterback Grady Hirst. Despite being pressured much of the game and was sacked eight times, Hirst completed 21-of-38 passes for 289 yards. With the sacks, West Branch finished with minus-16 yards rushing.

“Our defensive line was getting after it,” said Gecewich. “And that’s effort and they turned around and did the same thing to us. We weren’t exactly lighting up the scoreboard.”

Both teams were successful in recording red zone stops in the first half. West Branch stopped the Pirates at the West Branch 12- and 11-yard lines on two drives in the first and second quarters, respectively.

Meanwhile, Perry’s defense stopped the Warriors at the Pirates’ 21 in the first quarter.

Perry’s defense was successful in pinning the Warriors deep in their own territory on numerous occasions in the first half. The Warriors began three of their marches at the 12, 11, 22 yard lines in the opening half.

“In the first half, field position hurt us,” said Cooper. “We had some long fields and they had some short fields. They won the field position battle in the first half.”

But Perry broke through in the closing minutes of the first half. After a West Branch punt to the Warriors’ own 47 with just over three minutes showing in the first half, the Pirates marched the necessary yardage and scored on a nine-yard scoring pass from junior quarterback Nate Trefzger to a wide open Justin Costello over the middle with just 33.3 seconds showing before the break. The Pirates’ PAT boot was blocked and Perry took a 6-0 lead at halftime.

After a scoreless third quarter and the outcome still in doubt, West Branch’s offense was backed up deep in its own territory and was picked off at the Warriors’ 17 with just under 10 minutes left. The Pirates capitalized when Trefzger bolted six yards up the middle to make it an all-important two score game with just 7:49 left. The Pirates also added the two-point conversion on a pass from Trefzger to Justin Costello, making it 14-0.

“Any turnover is huge,” said Gecewich. “The interception when they were back down on their goal line was massive for us.”

“I think he (Trefzger) did a great job of staying calm,” continued Gecewich. “In a game like that where you’re going to have negative plays and they (the Warriors) do too, because they have some amazing guys up front that can really turn a play, he (the QB) stayed really calm on that first touchdown at the end of the half.”

“They were aggressive and we knew they were going to be aggressive defensively,” stated Cooper. “We felt like we had some matchups that we could take advantage of and had some opportunities there (that didn’t happen).”

West Branch was then stopped deep in its own territory on fourth down, setting up the Pirates’ final score on a seven-yard run by Hopkins with just 3:29 left. Kicker Colton Crissinger added the PAT to close the scoring.

Cooper was proud of all his seniors have accomplished.

“It is what it is, it was a great season,” he said. “Not where we want to be but proud of the kids and hats off to all the seniors for all they’ve done. They’re a great group of kids that worked really hard and I’m happy that they were able to have the success they were able to have this year.”

Meanwhile, Perry will now turn its attention to its rematch with Glenville.

“We’re super excited to have one more week and we’re playing the best team in the state,” said Gecewich.

Game notes

• Perry senior running back Brody Petruccelli is the younger brother of former Mount Union standout Josh Petruccelli. Josh was a 1,000-yard rusher as a freshman during Mount Union’s last NCAA Division III national championship team in 2017. Josh is one of three Mount Union players to have more than 5,000 yards rushing.

• Friday marked the second all-time playoff meeting between West Branch and Perry. The Warriors defeated the Pirates 26-19 in their only other postseason game during the 2021 season in a playoff game in Boardman.

• West Branch is currently looking for a Week 1 opponent to start the 2026 season. Canfield, which has been the Warriors’ season-opening opponent the past four seasons, has been moved to the Week VI spot on the Warriors’ 2026 slate.

W.BRANCH: 0-0-0- 0 –0

PERRY: 0-6-0-15–21

SCORING

P–Justin Costello, 9 pass from Nate Trefzger, 33.8 2nd (kick blocked)

P–Nate Trefzger, 6 run, 7:44 4th (Justin Costello pass from Nate Trefzger)

P–Carter Hopkins, 7 run, 3:29 4th (Colton Crissinger kick)

WB PER

First downs 14 18

Total yards 273 307

Rushes-yards 18-(-16) 35-173

Passing 289 134

Comp-Att-Int 21-39-1 9-20-0

Penalties-Yards 7-45 8-85

Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-0

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INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING — West Branch, Grady Hirst 10-minus 26, Gavin Marshall 7-10; Perry, Carter Hopkins 14-120, Nate Trefzger, 7-22, Brody Petruccelli 7-15, Jimmy Ashburn 1-5.

PASSING — West Branch, Grady Hirst, 21-39-289-0-0, Jeremiah Thomas 0-1-0-0-1; Perry, Nate Trefzger, 9-20-134-1-0

RECEIVING — West Branch, Gavin Gregory 5-52, Jeremiah Thomas 10-151, Drake Stryffeler 1-9, Gavin Marshall 2-22, Jake Weingart 2-16.