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Warriors came out to play

West Branch’s T.J. DeShields runs out of the pocket while Salem’s Robbie Sarginger gives chase on Saturday. (Salem News/Gary Leininger)

BELOIT — The combination of West Branch’s rushing attack, short passing game and bend but don’t break defense proved too much for Salem Saturday night as the Warriors won 27-0 to close out the 2016 season.

West Branch got revenge from a 21-14 loss to the Quakers last season in this fierce rivalry between the two schools.

The Warriors set the tone for the game right from the opening kickoff as they scored at the conclusion of a 86-yard, 10-play drive with Rob Lozier scoring on a 20-yard pass from quarterback T.J. DeShields. The Warriors consumed 4:14 of the first quarter clock on the drive.

In fact, the Warriors would score on their first four possessions of the game. They would accumulate 308 yards in the first half compared to the Quakers 111.

“It makes it easy for you on defense when your offense is executing that well,” Warriors coach D.J. Dota said. “Our game plan, the kids did an excellent job executing it. We talked about this week that we had to do a great job of blocking, staying on blocks until the whistle blows.”

“They came out and really played well against us,” Quakers coach Ron Johnson said. “We didn’t play real well, and we got ourselves in a hole and just didn’t make the plays to get out of it.”

“A lot of seniors stepped up tonight and made the plays,” Dota added. “I’m proud of those guys. When we needed it they did what they needed to do.”

Following Lozier’s touchdown catch, the Warriors would score again at the 2:03 mark of the first quarter when DeShield’s plowed into the end zone from a yard out to give the Warriors a 14-0 lead. The drive was set up by Lozier rushing for 42-yards on four carries in the drive.

After the Quakers turned the ball over on downs near midfield, the Warriors wasted little time in capitalizing with a quick 3-play drive with Lozier scoring again, this time from 22 yards out on the first play of the second quarter. A missed extra point gave the Warriors a 20-0 lead.

“Rob had a really good night,” Dota said. “I’m proud of him because in weeks one, two and three that was something we expected more from him and he brought it more every single week from that point. We’re really proud of where he came from and we were going to ride him tonight.”

The Quakers would not go away quietly, however, as they fought to get the ball down to the Warriors 20-yard line on their next possession only to turn the ball over on downs. That is when the Warriors capped off their scoring of the night as they marched 80 yards to score on a Lozier 8-yard run with 3:23 remaining in the quarter.

Once again the Quakers threatened right at the end of the half. They reached the Warrior’s 6-yard line with 11 seconds remaining, but quarterback Mitch Davidson had two pass attempts fall incomplete as the clock ran out, preserving the Warriors 27-0 lead.

Neither team could mount a serious threat in the second half as the Quakers got as close as the Warriors 17 only to fumble the ball away early in the fourth quarter. The Quakers committed two fumbles and two intercepted in their final four possessions.

“We play every game as a one week season. We didn’t have a lot of great seasons this year. We have a lot of work to do and continue to get better,” Johnson said.

SALEM 0-0-0-0–0

W BRANCH 14-13-0-0–27

SCORING

WB — Rob Lozier 20 pass from T.J. DeShields (Marcus Hoops kick)

WB — DeShields 1 run (Hoops kick)

WB — Lozier 22 run (kick failed)

WB — Lozier 8 run (Hoops kick)

——

S    W

First downs    20    19

Total Yards    305    391

Rushes-yards    35-141    35-174

Passing    164    217

Comp-Att-Int    15-34-3    23-32-0

Punts    1-18    3-20.3

Fumbles-Lost    3-2    1-0

Penalties-Yards    6-45    6-65

——

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING-SALEM, Cooper Bezeredi 24-101; WEST BRANCH, Rob Lozier 28-161, T.J. DeShields 6-13

PASSING-SALEM, Mitch Davidson 15-34-164-0-3; WEST BRANCH, T.J. DeShields 22-31-183-1-0, Brett Butcher 1-1-34-0-0

RECEIVING-SALEM, Jake Humeniuk 10-128, Chase Ackerman 1-37; WEST BRANCH, Ethan Griffith 5-77, Rob Lozier 9-69, Jacob Ice 2-53

INTERCEPTIONS-WEST BRANCH, Brett Butcher, Cameron Martig, Matt Steer

FUMBLE RECOVERY-WEST BRANCH, Matt Steer (2)

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