West Branch’s Jeremiah Thomas rushes against Salem on Friday at Sebo Stadium.

SALEM — With both the West Branch Warriors and Salem Quakers having clinched playoff spots, the annual regular-season-ending battle between the two schools came down to who wanted the Eastern Buckeye Conference championship and bragging rights for the next year.

The Warriors gutted out a hard-fought 27-13 victory over the Quakers in what felt like a playoff-type atmosphere Friday night at Sebo Stadium. It also improves their record to 9-1 on the season and clinches an undisputed EBC crown with a perfect 5-0 mark.

“This is one of the best rivalries in the state,” Warriors head coach Tim Cooper said. “Coach Johnson does a good job of hyping this game all year round. I know their kids were excited for the opportunity to play for a league championship, which was the first time in a while. We knew it was going to be a really physical game. But our kids responded, and I’m so proud of these guys.”

“It feels really good. To keep the EBC streak alive and to get a win over your rival feels really good,” Warriors junior quarterback Grady Hirst added. “It’s always a tough game when you play a rival.”

With the loss, the Quakers close the regular season with a 6-4 record and 3-2 in the league. It also marks the sixth loss in a row by the Quakers in the Totem-Bell traveling trophy series. The Quakers trail the Warriors 22-32 in the series overall. Salem was going for its first league title since 1994.

“I’m very proud. We had an opportunity to win a football game and an opportunity to win a championship. But we didn’t get it done,” a disappointed Quaker’s head coach, Ron Johnson said. “A lot of things go into that. Some were in our control and some were out of our control. I’m disappointed for our kids, but I’m certainly not disappointed in them. They played their butts off.”

The Warriors were led by Hirst who rushed for 93 yards and passed for another 165 yards and two touchdowns in the contest. Jeremiah Thomas added 63 yards on the ground while scoring 2 touchdowns in the game.

Quaker senior quarterback Cletis Monroy led the Quakers with 85 yards rushing with 2 touchdowns, along with throwing for another 39 yards. Brandon Kana added 72 yards to the Quakers’ ground attack.

The Warriors got on the scoreboard first, thanks in part to a gutsy call by Johnson on the Quakers’ first possession that came up short. Facing a fourth and three from their own 41, Monroy attempted to pick up the first down on a fake punt. He would be stopped short of the first down, turning the ball over on downs to the Warriors at their own 42.

“We thought we had it,” Johnson stated. “We just missed a block. We swung and missed. The same set, exact same play we had against Catholic Central earlier in the year, and we ran it for 48 yards to the 2-yard line and scored on the next play.”

The Quakers wasted no time in making the Quakers pay for the miscue as they only used five plays to score and grab the early momentum. Thomas would score on a 3-yard run at the 8:40 mark of the opening frame to put the Warriors up 7-0.

Following a three-and-out by the Quakers, the Warriors struck again. This time, it was a 12-yard pass from Hirst to Gavin Marshall to boost their advantage to 14-0 with 3:12 remaining in the first quarter.

“I thought we were just more physical, and we played more as a team. We didn’t start pointing fingers whenever things didn’t go well. We have good team camaraderie, and we play together,” Hirst said.

After both teams exchanged possessions, the Quakers were able to get some traction as they went on a 15-play, 57-yard drive with Monroy scoring on a 1-yard blast to cut the deficit to 14-6 with just 34 seconds remaining in the half. The impressive drive included 12 rushing plays and ate up 6:09 on the game clock.

“Absolutely,” Johnson responded when asked if the game plan was to keep the ball away from the Warrior offense. “They can’t score when they don’t have it (ball). We did some things very well, but we continued to shoot ourselves in the foot. And we still made plays that gave us an opportunity.”

But the Warriors wrestled the momentum back in their corner to start the second half as they marched 71 yards on 9 plays with Thomas once again scoring. This time it was on a 2-yard run to push the Warriors’ advantage out to 21-6 with 7:31 left in the third quarter.

The Quakers would not back down as they answered the Warriors’ score with another impressive drive covering 64 yards. Monroy would score on the 14th play of the possession on a 3-yard run to make it 21-13 in favor of the Warriors with just 28 ticks remaining in the third quarter.

“We limited the explosive plays,” Cooper commented on the key to the Warriors’ defensive effort in the contest. “Making sure we limit those explosive plays, win first down, and be in good situations for us.”

Following a misjudged kickoff, the Warriors found themselves in the shadow of their own goal post with the Quakers carrying the momentum. The Warriors would pick up a first down by the nose of the football on a gutsy fourth-and-one run by Thomas at their own 15-yard line. Seven plays later, Hirst would connect with Jake Weingart on a 41-yard pass to reach the final 27-13-point margin. That score came with 7:52 remaining in the contest.

“That was very tough,” Johnson said about the fourth-down conversion by the Warriors. “That was a tough spot. It was disappointing.”

Both teams will await their postseason assignments on Sunday. The Warriors will get a first bye as they prepare for a home game in two weeks. The Quakers will find themselves on the road next Friday against an opponent to be named.

WB: 14-0-7-6–27

SA: 0-6-7-0–13

SCORING

WB – Jeremiah Thomas 3 run (Gavin Clemens Kick)

WB – Gavin Marshall 12 pass from Grady Hirst (Clemens Kick)

SA – Cletis Monroy 1 run (Kick Failed)

WB – Thomas 2 run (Clemens Kick)

SA – Monroy 3 run (Gerson Samayoa Kick)

WB – Jake Weigart 41 pass from Hirst (Kick Blocked)

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WB SA

First downs 19 12

Total Yards 332 200

Rushes-yards 35-167 41-161

Passing 165 39

Comp-Att-Int 12-19-0 7-10-0

Punts 0-0 3-40.7

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties-Yards 5-26 9-75

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INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING– WEST BRANCH, Grady Hirst 16-93, Jeremiah Thomas 13-63; SALEM, Cletis Monroy 20-85, Brandon Kana 20-72

PASSING– WEST BRANCH, Grady Hirst 12-19-165-2-0; SALEM, Cletis Monroy 7-10-39-0-0

RECEIVING– WEST BRANCH, Jeremiah Thomas 5-50, Jake Weingart 1-41, Gavin Marshall 2-24, Lukas Black 1-23; SALEM, Bairon Exline 4-28, Owen Davidson 1-6