West Branch’s Boston Mulinix runs for a touchdown past Salem’s Will Harmon on Friday at Sebo Stadium.

SALEM — West Branch and Salem rolled out a new piece of hardware — the Totem-Bell traveling trophy — for the 52nd meeting in their storied football rivalry here Friday night.

And it was the D4 12th-ranked Warriors who claimed initial possession of the glistening new trophy after rolling to a 49-0 win over the Quakers in a rain-filled clash at Sebo Stadium.

“Our attention to detail in this rivalry game was pretty important for us this week and our kids went out and executed it,” said West Branch head football coach Tim Cooper, who has a record of 42-6 since taking over play-calling duties in 2020 for the Warriors.

“We made so many mistakes,” said Salem head coach Ron Johnson. “We made so many physical mistakes that we haven’t made and turned the football over, which we hadn’t done.”

With the win, West Branch (9-1) also captured the outright Eastern Buckeye Conference title for a fourth consecutive year. The Warriors concluded the EBC season at 5-0 and haven’t lost an EBC game in over four years. They have won 22 straight league games, dating back to the latter portion of the 2019 campaign.

“It feels good, every year it’s our goal to win the EBC and to win it four years in a row is a great feeling,” said West Branch running back Boston Mulinix, who led the Warriors with 127 yards rushing and three touchdowns. “It also feels good to add another trophy (the Totem-Bell traveling trophy) to the case.”

West Branch has now won four in a row in the series with the Quakers and leads the series, 30-22.

“Our kids really work hard in the offseason,” said Cooper. “This is our exception and we’ve got a great group of guys and I’m really happy and proud of them and excited for the postseason.”

Youthful Salem, which has been beset by injuries all season, concluded its campaign at 1-9 overall and 1-4 in the EBC, but returns a wealth of starters next season who got extensive early playing time this year.

“They (the Warriors) are a good football team and our kids continued to fight and play hard,” said Johnson.

“They (the Quakers) have a young team and they’re going to get a lot better in the future,” said Cooper.

West Branch will now await the final playoff pairings to be announced by the OHSAA on Sunday afternoon.

“I love our chances in the playoffs,” said Mulinix. “We’re such a diverse team because everybody can do a little bit of everything, and when you have good chemistry like this, it’s pretty dangerous.”

“He (Mulinix) is an explosive kid and it (winning the West Branch-Salem game) means a lot to him,” said Cooper. “He worked really hard in the offseason and it’s great to see it paying off for him.”

West Branch outgained Salem, 417-142 in the contest as the Warriors’ 6-6 senior quarterback Beau Alazaus completed 10-of-19 passes for 191 yards and a touchdown.

Salem was led by quarterback Cletis Monroy who paced all Quaker rushers with 60 yards on 30 carries. He also added 62 yards passing.

West Branch wasted little time setting the tempo, driving 84 yards to score on its opening offensive possession when Mulinix raced 36 yards around right end to find the end zone. Mulinix also added the conversion run as West Branch took an 8-0 lead at the 8:29 mark of the first quarter.

On Salem’s second possession, West Branch’s defense capitalized on a turnover when defensive back Joey Jackson stepped in front of a Salem pass and returned the interception 25 yards for a touchdown. The conversion run failed and the Warriors took a 14-0 advantage at the 7:56 mark of the first quarter.

West Branch’s defense intercepted three Salem passes during the game.

“Those guys work hard on both sides of the ball and it’s great to see it paying off,” said Cooper.

“Our defense played well in the passing game, but we gave up too many scores on short fields and in many other areas with things like punt returns and pick sixes,” remarked Johnson.

Before the first quarter was done, West Branch added two more scores on a 30-yard scoring run by Mulinix and on a 40-yard punt return for a touchdown by Jeremiah Thomas. Kicker Eliza Hirst added two first-quarter PAT boots and West Branch led 28-0 after one.

The Warriors added one second-quarter score on a 92-yard scoring pass from Alazaus to Joey Jackson. Hirst added the PAT kick and West Branch led 35-0 with 3:34 left before intermission. The score remained that way at half and started a running clock at the outset of the second half.

West Branch led 263-81 in total yards at halftime.

With West Branch playing a backup quarterback to open the second half, the Warriors added a third-quarter score on a five-yard run by quarterback/running back Garin Harlan. Hirst added the PAT kick and the visitors increased their lead to 42-0 at the 1:01 mark of the third quarter.

West Branch closed out the scoring in the fourth quarter when Mulinix broke loose again around right end and scored on a 19-yard rushing touchdown with just 3:24 remaining in the game. Hirst added the 49th and final point with her PAT boot.

Johnson praised his seniors for leading the team through a trying season in which the Quakers lost so many starters (nine) to injury.

“I just really appreciate the seniors leading and battling through this adversity,” said Johnson. “They kept their heads up and they didn’t quit. They just wanted to play football to the best of their ability and we tried to represent Salem the best way we could.”

Cooper said the Warriors, who have a lot of postseason experience, will now gear up for their playoff game Friday night at home at 7 p.m. against an opponent to be decided.

“We just have to continue to get one day and one week better,” said the West Branch coach.

Notes

¯ The new Totem-Bell traveling trophy has a miniature totem pole on one side and a miniature Salem victory bell on the opposite side — hence, the Totem-Bell traveling trophy. The trophy replaces the defunct Warrior-Sam Trophy that had been retired since 1986.

“It (the trophy) is neat, we tried to make it something special,” said Johnson, who came up with the idea for the new trophy in the series. “There something from the original (Warrior-Sam) one, when I got here I found the old one, and that’s what the center piece is.”

“It’s awesome, that was a good idea by coach Johnson,” said Cooper.

¯ West Branch won last year’s game with the Quakers, 48-38 in Beloit.

¯ West Branch and Salem played their first-ever game in 1964, a 12-0 Salem win at then Reilly Stadium.

¯ Salem’s five non-league games next season include Poland, South Range, East Liverpool, Canton Central Catholic and Beaver Local.

WB 28-7-7-7 — 49

SA: 0-0-0-0 — 0

SCORING

WB — Boston Mulinix, 36 run, 8:29 1st (Boston Mulinix run)

WB — Joey Jackson, 25 interception return, 7:56 1st (Run failed)

WB — Boston Mulinix, 30 run, 4:41 1st (Eliza Hirst kick)

WB — Jeremiah Thomas, 40 punt return, 3:24 1st (Eliza Hirst kick)

WB — Joey Jackson, 92 pass from Beau Alazaus, 3:24 2nd (Eliza Hirst kick)

WB — Garin Harlan, 5 run, 1:01 3rd (Eliza Hirst kick)

WB — Boston Mulinix, 19 run, 3:24 4th (Eliza Hirst kick)

——

WB SAL

First downs 15 10

Total yards 417 142

Rushes-yards 19-226 39-80

Passing 191 62

Comp-Att-Int 10-19-1 6-12-3

Punts 2-36 6-35

Penalties-Yards 5-70 8-75

——

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING — West Branch, Boston Mulinix, 9-127, Beau Alazaus, 2-39, Garin Harlan 5-55; Salem, Marcus Phillips 7018, Cletis Monroy 30-60

PASSING — West Branch, Beau Alazaus, 10-19-191-1-1; Salem, Cletis Monroy, 6-12-62-0-3

RECEIVING — West Branch, Jeremiah Thomas 3-38, Anthony Perry, 3-12, Joey Jackson 3-125, Boston Mulinix 1-8; Salem, Derek Oesch, 2-18 Hunter Prendergast, 1-8 Marcus Phillips, 3-17 Will Harmon 1-2

INTERCEPTIONS, West Branch, Joey Jackson (2), Jeremiah Thomas; Salem, Marcus Phillips