Local Sports

Warriors live up to their name

BELOIT -- West Branch set the stage for what could be one of the best regional semifinals in Ohio (all divisions combined) next weekend after the Warriors recorded a thrilling 28-21 Division IV playoff win over upset-minded Poland at Clinton Heacock Stadium on Friday night.

"We knew it was going to be a battle and we've got a lot of respect for coach (Tom) Pavlansky and everything they do, but I'm really proud of our kids," said West Branch coach Tim Cooper.

The win sends the third-seeded Warriors (10-1) into next Friday's regional semifinal in Rocky River against the second-seeded Pirates (11-0) at 7 p.m. at 3,017-seat Rocky River Stadium.

The two schools, who sport Division I college commits on their rosters, have never played in football. Rocky River advanced Friday with a 35-16 playoff win over seventh-seeded Northwest. According to the Fantastic 50 power ratings, West Branch will be a slight favorite in the game.

West Branch's All-Ohio quarterback Grady Hirst put the Warriors on his back against Poland and the West Branch defense pitched a second-half shutout. That included three red-zone stands, including a game-sealing interception by Brock Woost near the West Branch goal line in the final secondsn.

"It just speaks to the character of the kid, man," said Cooper of Hirst's huge game. "Our backs were against the wall, we had some injuries and some different playmakers went out, but at the end of the day it was like get the ball to No. 5 (Hirst). They (the Bulldogs) knew what was coming and it didn't matter. I'm so proud of that kid."

"They (the Warriors) are really good obviously and you can't let teams hang around," said Poland coach Tom Pavansky. "Give them credit and I was really proud of our kids."

West Branch defensive lineman Tyler Sprowl played a huge part in leading the West Branch defense with three sacks in the contest, including a key one late in the game.

“Wow," said Cooper of Sprowl's three sacks. "He's another kid who is a returning starter for us and played last year in some big games for us. We get an opportunity to go to Week 13 again and Tyler is a big reason we had success last year defensively and he's gotten better over the course of the year. I'm not surprised because that's the work he puts into his game."

Meanwhile, Hirst, the Youngstown State commit, rushed for a game-high 203 yards and three touchdowns to lead West Branch's second-half offensive comeback.

"Coach Alazaus has been watching the Nick Saban documentary, so seven seconds at a time, one play at a time and don't look at the scoreboard," said Hirst. "One play at a time and at the end of the day we came out victorious."

"He's a tremendous player," said Pavlansky. "He's really good and they do a nice job with him running the ball and scheming things up for him and he's got a rocket of an arm."

Trailing 21-20 and holding Poland on downs at the West Branch 30, the West Branch offense impressively marched 70 yards to find the end zone when Hirst took a snap, rolled left and raced over the stripe from 6 yards with 11:41 remaining in the game. He then added an all-important two-point conversion, giving the Warriors a 28-21 lead. It was the Warriors' first lead since they led 6-0 two plays into the game.

"I was just saying keep your head up," said Hirst. "One play at a time, I can't say that enough -- just play for each other, it doesn't matter what the scoreboard says."

"We haven't been in this situation (trailing) often besides the Canfield game, so it was a little bit new for us but we talked about not getting wide-eyed and not blinking and just playing one play at a time and that was our mentality tonight," said Cooper. "We knew it was going to go to the wire and Poland was a top 4 seed talent-wise. They were one play away in those games of being 9-1."

Cruz Lone delivered two big onside kicks which aided the Warriors' win.

"When Cruz got that onside kick that was a big momentum swing for us and we just kept it rolling," said Hirst.

Friday's triumph also marked the seventh straight season West Branch, which won a seventh straight Eastern Buckeye Conference crown this fall, has won its opening playoff game.

With the loss, 11th-seeded Poland concluded its season with a 7-5 record.

"We had a great week of preparation and endings are tough," said Pavlansky.

West Branch struck just two plays into the game when Hirst raced 77 yards down the right sideline to score. However, a bad PAT snap foiled what turned out to be a run and the Warriors led 6-0 at the 11:14 mark of the first quarter.

But Poland answered on its first drive, marching 38 yards to score on a one-yard run by running back Chase Jones. Kicker Salvi Carramussa added the PAT kick and the Bulldogs took a 7-6 lead at the 9:14 mark of the first quarter.

After stopping West Branch, the Poland offense went long distance, driving 84 yards with Jones, who had 84 yards rushing in the first half, darting 31 yards to score. With the successful PAT boot the Bulldogs went up 14-6 with 1:47 left in the first quarter.

Poland partially blocked a West Branch punt and capitalized when Kyren Pope raced 30 yards to score and with another PAT kick, the Bulldogs took a 21-6 lead with 10:26 showing in the second quarter.

Undaunted, West Branch answered with an 82-yard march, capped by a four-yard quarterback keeper by Hirst. The Warriors also added the two-point conversion on a run around left end by Drake Stryffeler, cutting the Poland advantage to 21-14 with 7:31 left before half.

Stryffeler then pounced on a Poland fumble on the ensuing kickoff, setting the Warriors up at the Poland 38. West Branch then went the necessary yardage to score on a fourth-down 16-yard scoring toss across the middle from Hirst to Jeremy Ramsey. However, another bad snap on the PAT kick foiled the attempt and Poland clung to a 21-20 lead with 4:52 showing before the break.

West Branch's defense then came up big just before halftime when on fourth and goal at the three with 15 seconds left, the Warriors sacked Poland quarterback David Zipolitas at the Bulldogs' 13 as time expired. 

"Those guys have been doing it all year long," said Cooper. "It's been a shift in our program about how we kind of play and that side of the ball is really important to us and we know that's going to carry us through the playoffs. We just need to keep playing hard, fast and physical and relentless on that side of the ball."

GAME NOTES

• The Warriors' playoff win over Poland was their second straight against the Bulldogs. West Branch also defeated Poland 33-21 in a D4 playoff game in Beloit in 2021.

• West Branch has won at least 10 games in the past six straight seasons.

• West Branch's Cooper upped his head coaching record to 54-8 (an .870 winning percentage) in five seasons as the Warriors' boss. He also holds a playoff record to 8-4.

• Turning to the regional final against Rocky River, a game many feel could produce the eventual regional champion, Cooper said the Warriors will prepare well for a Pirates' team, which like West Branch has several D1 collegiate recruits on their roster.

"We noticed their scores and know they've got a lot of talented kids on their team, so we're going to enjoy this one tonight and they start preparing for those guys and putting our guys in good situations for next week," said Cooper.


SCORING

P: 14- 7-0-0--21

WB: 6-14-0-8--28

SCORING

WB -- Grady Hirst 77 run (run failed)

POL -- Chase Jones 1 run (Salvi Carramussa kick)

POL -- Chase Jones 31 run (Salvi Carramussa kick)

POL -- Karen Pope 30 run (Salvi Carramussa kick)

WB -- Grady Hirst 4 run (Drake Stryffeler run)

WB -- Jeremy Ramsey 16 pass from Grady Hirst (run failed)

WB -- Grady Hirst 6 run (Hirst run)

TEAM STATS

Poland

First downs: 24; Total yards: 328; Rushes-yards: 42-173; Passing: 165; Comp-Att-Int. 10-15-2; Punts 3-38; Fumbles-Lost 2-1; Penalties-Yards 2-15.

West Branch

First downs: 26, Total yards 416, Rushes-yards 40-246, Passing 170 Comp-Att-Int. 11-19-9, Punts 3, Fumbles-Lost 0-0, Penalties-Yards 6-50.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING--Poland, David Xipolitas, 16-52, Chase Jones, 17-105; West Branch, Grady Hirst, 28-203, Gavin Marshall, 26, Damon Edwards, 5-26, JJ Marra 2-12, Drake Stryffeler, 1-4

PASSING--Poland, David Xipolitas, 10-15-165-0-2; West Branch, Grady Hirst, 11-19-170-1-0   

RECEIVING--Poland, Chase Jones, 2-14, Caleb Scott, 7-102, Brody Gentler, 2-14, Nick Nittoli, 2-23; West Branch, Drake Stryffeler 4-22, Jeremy Ramsey, 1-16, Gavin Marshall, 4-70, Landon Coffee, 3-33, JJ Marra, 1-2 .