'We just fell short': West Branch football's 'amazing' run ends with OHSAA regional loss

NILES — Jefferson Area head coach Brandon Hanna’s faith in quarterback Grant Hitchcock was a major factor in ending the West Branch football team’s dream of its first regional title in 24 years.

Nursing a four-point lead and facing a fourth-and-8 at the West Branch 47 with about four minutes to play Saturday, Hanna called a run-option for his senior quarterback, also the Falcons punter.

The Warriors, playing in their second straight Division IV, Region 13 final, were hoping to give their senior quarterback, Division I college prospect Dru DeShields, one last chance to extend the Warriors’ season

Hitchcock said he expected to be told to punt. Instead, not finding a running lane, he hit Trent Hodge for an 18-yard gain that enabled the Falcons to hang on and run out the clock for a 41-37 victory at Bo Rein Stadium.

“I figured he was going to say punt,” Hitchcock said.

“Not a chance, not when you have [Hitchcock] back there,” Hanna said when asked if he considered punting.

Hitchcock’s arm and legs engineered the Falcons’ second-half comeback, overcoming a 30-19 third-quarter deficit. First, he found Kaige Boczar for a 43-yard touchdown pass. Hitchcock’s conversion run sliced the Warriors’ lead to three points.

Then Hitchcock returned a Colby Smith punt 72 yards for a 34-30 advantage.

In the fourth quarter, after DeShields had scored on a 3-yard run as West Branch regained the lead, Hitchcock escaped for a 64-yard TD run.

“He’s just quick,” Warriors senior lineman Mitchell Coffee said. ”He made the right reads, he made the right plays.”

Jefferson (11-3), coming off a four-win season, advances to the state’s final four for the first time. The Falcons will play Cleveland Glenville next Saturday.

“It’s still a terrific season,” head coach Tim Cooper said of the Warriors’ 12-2 record that included a 12-game winning streak after losing to Canfield in the opener. Canfield is the Division III, Region 9 champion playing in the state final four for the first time since 2005. “There’s nothing for our seniors to hang their heads about.”

West Branch sophomore running back Boston Mulinix had a stellar game, rushing for 238 yards and three TDs on 22 carries. His 77-yard run in the third quarter set up a 6-yard score.

Cooper credited the Falcons defenders for solid pressure on DeShields, who was 9-of-21 passing for 151 yards.

“Their corners were pretty good,” DeShields said. “They pressed pretty good. They covered pretty good.”

The Eastern Illinois commit had been averaging about 290 yards before the finale.

“It’s been great,” DeShields said of his varsity career, “but we’ve always finished short.”

Cooper called DeShields “a terrific player, he’s going to have great success in college.”

The Warriors seniors went 25-3 in their final two seasons.

“They’ve been the cornerstone to our program,” the first-year head coach said. “We’re going to miss them when they are gone, but grateful for the time we had together.”

Coffee called the team’s run twice to regional finals “amazing. You can’t ask for anything more. “Everybody did their part.

“They kept working in the offseason,” he said. “We just fell short.”

The Warriors struggled on conversions, going 1-for-6. Sophomore kicker Anthony Perry broke his collarbone two weeks ago against Struthers. Perry handled kickoffs against the Falcons but was unable to punt or placekick.

Hitchcock’s one mistake helped propel the Warriors to an early 12-0 lead.

West Branch opened with a 60-yard drive capped by Mulinix scoring from the 1. The Falcons’ David Ellis deflected the conversion pass.

The Falcons opened with a three-and-out series, then Hitchcock punted the ball into one of his linemen, giving the Warriors the ball at the Jefferson 45.

Four plays later, DeShields scored from the 1. His conversion pass fell incomplete.

The Falcons drove 75 yards on nine plays for their first score, a 5-yard run by Luke Funtash. Jenson Yarosh’s conversion kick made it 12-7 with 19 seconds left in the first quarter.

On the Warriors’ next play, Mulinix escaped for a 60-yard touchdown run. The conversion kick failed.

Midway through the send quarter, Hitchcock scored from the 9 to slice the West Branch lead to 18-13. Yarosh’s conversion kick was wide.

DeShields answered with a 5-yard TD run. The conversion run failed, keep the Warriors' lead at 24-13.

With 18 seconds before halftime, the Falcons made it 24-19 on Hitchcock’s 3-yard run. The Falcons’ conversion run attempt was stuffed.

This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Grant Hitchcock rallies Jefferson Area football to OHSAA regional win