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A year ago, Grady Hirst emerged as one of the top throwing quarterbacks in the Mahoning Valley. As a junior, Hirst led West Branch to a 10-2 finish, passing for 2,660 yards and 25 touchdowns.
Now a senior, Hirst is again the sparkplug of the West Branch offense. The Warriors are off to a 4-0 start and ranked fourth in the Division IV, Region 13 computer rankings.
This time, Hirst is letting his legs carry a good chunk of the load. He has already rushed for 482 yards and nine touchdowns, averaging 8.6 yards per carry.
While not throwing as often as he was a year ago, Hirst has been on the money when he does put the ball in the air. He has completed 56 of 77 pass attempts for 774 yards with six touchdowns.
"We're taking what the defense gives us; we're taking advantage of our skillset," West Branch coach Tim Cooper said. "We replaced our entire offensive line from last year, and that unit has really gelled. We have a really great tight end who has been awesome in the run game, and that helps open things up for Grady.
"The most noticeable thing about Grady is that he's breaking tackles at a way higher clip than he was last year. He looks bigger, stronger and faster. If you look at a lot of his runs, he's breaking one, two, three tackles before they get him down. He's really hard to bring down right now."
Cooper says he believes Hirst has the strongest arm out of the many elite quarterbacks that have recently played at West Branch.
"I think my most accurate and most athletic passer was (current Kent State quarterback) Dru DeShields, and Grady is a very close second," Cooper said. "Grady has the strongest arm and has the best mechanics out of all the quarterbacks since I've been here."
Given the fact that Hirst has verbally committed to Youngstown State, the comparisons between him and current Penguins dual-threat quarterback Beau Brungard are inevitable. Brungard played his high school ball at nearby Springfield.
"Skillset-wise, they come from the same thread in that they have big arms, they're extremely athletic and they can beat you in multiple ways," Cooper said. "But beyond that, they're both homebody kids, great individuals who are ultra competitive."
"We have some coaches on our staff who were at Western Reserve and coached against Beau in high school, so yeah, this discussion has come up in the locker room. It was interesting to hear the comparisons. It's really unfair to compare the two at this point, but there are a lot of striking similarities."
West Branch will look to lift its record to 5-0 tonight with a road game at Marlington.
PASSING ON PUNTS
On paper, Girard junior Braxton Sloan is considered the team's first-string punter.
Indians coach Pat Pearson describes Sloan as "a really talented all-around athlete, someone who can do it all on the football field." As a wide receiver, Sloan has pulled in 12 receptions through four games, including five catches for touchdowns. From his defensive backfield position, he has recorded 19 tackles.
As for his punting duties, well, fans will have to just take Pearson's word that Sloan is a viable punter.
Through four games, Girard has yet to punt the football. The Indians (4-0) - averaging 47.8 points per game - have been perfect on fourth-down conversions this year. Opponents either get possession from Girard on a kickoff following a score or via a rare turnover.
"With the personnel we have on offense, we've been pretty aggressive this year," Pearson said. "We haven't faced too many fourth-down situations, so it's not like we're overly risky. We've just been fortunate to be in a good spot in most of our fourth-down situations.
"We experienced a similar stretch last year. But I don't know that we went four straight games without a punt."
A year ago, the Indians punted the ball 14 times in 13 games.
Despite the lack of punting in game situations to this point, Pearson noted that his team "reps the heck out of it" during practice.
"To be honest, we put in extra work on the punting game, because we know it's going to be needed down the road and we need to be game-ready," Pearson said. "We cannot overemphasize the importance of special teams. Our starters are on the punt unit. It's a huge part of our game."
Tonight, Girard plays at Garaway (4-0) before returning to conference play and defense of its Northeast 8 title.
"We're going to be faced with a number of major challenges from this point forward," Pearson said. "We have to be well-prepared in all phases of the game."
STILL UNBEATEN
In addition to West Branch and Girard, six other area schools are 4-0 as the season reaches the halfway point tonight. Other unbeaten teams include Salem, Garrettsville Garfield, Liberty, McDonald, Mineral Ridge and South Range.
Head-to-head matchups guarantee that the list will be reduced by at least four teams at the end of the regular season.
On Oct. 2, Girard plays host to South Range. On the same night, Liberty will travel to Garfield. The final week of the regular season features Salem at West Branch and Mineral Ridge at McDonald.
Statewide, there are 98 schools with a record of 4-0. Division V, Region 17 includes the most unbeaten teams among the 28 divisions, with the top seven schools all sporting a 4-0 record. Liberty, Garfield and Girard hold the fifth through seventh spots in Region 17.