Staff photo / Neel Madhavan West Branch quarterback Beau Alazaus gets set to throw a pass during a 7-on-7 passing scrimmage earlier this summer. Alazaus is taking over for star quarterback Dru DeShields this season and will be at the helm of West Branch’s high-powered offense.

BELOIT — Last year, in his first year as the head coach at West Branch, Tim Cooper couldn’t have asked for a better start to his head coaching career.

Despite a narrow defeat to eventual Division III state champion Canfield in their season opener, the Warriors went on to win nine straight games during the regular season. West Branch earned the top seed in the region, and after three wins to open the playoffs, the Warriors finished the season as regional runner-up in Division IV, Region 13 for the second straight season, falling to Jefferson in the regional final.

But last season, especially the offseason and preseason, was a learning experience for Cooper. He was figuring things out as head coach, learning and understanding the logistics and work that goes on behind the scenes leading the program.

“My role is ever-changing,” Cooper said. “Last year, we had a great group of seniors. There was a large group of them, and they were able to really provide some leadership and take a lot off my plate. This year, with a smaller group of seniors, sometimes it’s a little bit more challenging, and I’ve got to take a little bit more of a — not necessarily disciplinarian — but a little bit more of a stern type of leadership.”

This season is much different. He’s settled into his role, and Cooper is hoping the Warriors are poised to continue building on the consistent success they’ve enjoyed over the past few years.

“I just feel more comfortable in my role — prioritizing what’s important, what’s not important and obviously with a great staff that we have, that makes it a lot easier on me that I can rely on these guys,” Cooper said. “We’ve got some great young coaches that are really hungry and that take some things off my plate that I probably had to do last year. Being more comfortable in my own skin and knowing what I want our program to look like and be like, I think is going to help us come week 9, 10, 11 and so on.”

But despite the changes and differences, one thing remains constant — the Warriors’ high-octane, high-powered offensive attack.

In 2021, West Branch averaged 46.9 points per game. Then last year, it almost matched that with 45.4 points per game.

Simply put, the Warriors want to rack up a ton of yards, and they want to score a lot of points.

“I think with where we are right now, you have to have the Jimmy’s and Joe’s to do it — Jimmy’s and Joe’s are X’s and O’s,” Cooper said. “We always say that we’re really fortunate that we’ve had a great run of kids right now. Our kids are bought into that system. We tweak things here and there…(but) right now this is our system. Three or four years from now, who knows what it will look like, but we’re going to continue to adapt and tweak things as we see fit.”

OFFENSE

Speed kills — and West Branch has plenty of it this year.

“I think our skill rivals what we’ve had the last couple years,” Cooper said. “We’ve probably got the fastest team we’ve had in the last couple years, so our team speed should be much improved.”

But perhaps the biggest change for the Warriors this year is that star quarterback Dru DeShields has graduated and moved on to the collegiate level at Kent State.

DeShields owns several passing records at West Branch, but new Warriors quarterback Beau Alazaus is ready to fill those shoes.

“Dru is awesome and he taught me a lot — so I think I’m ready to step up and show what I can do,” Alazaus said. “(Dru) is really smart, so I learned a lot about the game of football — reading defenses and stuff like that. Also Brock (Hillyer) during my freshman year, he also taught me a lot.”

Alazaus comes in with some game experience. He played in 12 of the Warriors 14 games last year in clean up duty. But he also came in during a game when DeShields went down with an injury, and had the chance to play meaningful snaps.

In that limited playing time, he completed 34-of-53 of his passes for 379 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. He also had three rushing touchdowns.

“Dru having the injury last year, we were able to see what it’s like without a running quarterback in our system, and I think Beau’s going to do a great job,” Cooper said. “He’s going to keep defenses honest, and for the most part, our system is intact.”

Alazaus has no shortage of help around him at the skill positions to help ease the transition.

Junior Boston Mulinix will join Alazaus in the backfield and returns at running back after a huge season last year. Mulinix ran for 1,391 yards and 19 touchdowns on 196 carries, averaging almost 100 yards per game. Mulinix is a versatile player that provides a steady, veteran presence in the backfield.

“He’s a really athletic guy,” Alazaus said. “Just getting the ball in space, I think he can make plays for us and be great just like our receivers can.”

The Warriors have two key players back out wide for Alazaus to throw to.

Joey Jackson and Anthony Perry both had huge sophomore campaigns, as both almost eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards. Jackson finished with 991 yards and 11 touchdowns on 65 receptions, while Perry had 888 yards and nine touchdowns on 47 receptions.

“(Jackson) is going to play in the slot for us again — he’s a dynamic kid,” Cooper said. “We get him the ball in a bunch of different ways. Perry had about 900 yards before his season got cut short with a broken collarbone, but he’s back for us. He’s also a dynamic guy and we will move him around a little bit.”

Sophomore Jeremiah Thomas is another young receiver that looks to emerge this season for the Warriors offensively.

Gavin Gregory, Cooper Anderson and Carson Graham are other names to look for out wide.

“(Thomas) had a great offseason,” Cooper said. “He played for us at the end of last year due to some injuries and he’s going to split out wide for us. We’ve got a bunch of different big body guys, (too). So we’re pretty deep at the skill positions.”

However, on the offensive line, the Warriors are a bit more inexperienced. Several players are back that have been part of the program for a couple years, but don’t necessarily have a ton of varsity playing time.

“We’ve got to shore some things up on the offensive line,” Cooper said. “We’re a little bit untested up there, but we’ve got some talented kids. Dom Slimon and Jax Brooks, they both started some games for us last year due to injuries. Then we’ve got Cam Summers, who played for us defensively and he’s going to play some on the line. Then we’ve got a couple other juniors Hayden Martin, Zack Gorby and Brock Boyle — they’ve been playing JV football for the last couple years, so we don’t have a single senior offensive lineman. So it’ll be those new guys that have to be leaders in that room.”

Staff photo / Neel Madhavan
West Branch wide receiver Kayden Porter pulls in a catch during a 7-on-7 passing scrimmage against South Range earlier this summer.

DEFENSE

Defensively, Cooper said West Branch will be relying on returning defensive back Garin Harlan and linebacker Nick Love to form the core of the unit.

Harlan was the Warriors’ second-leading tackler last season with 92 total tackles, but he also had two interceptions, five pass breakups and three forced fumbles. Love finished the year with 67 total tackles, including 2.0 tackles for loss and 0.5 sacks.

“They’re going to be our anchors defensively, so we’re leaning on those guys to make up for some inexperience in some different spots,” Cooper said. “But we’re excited about the group of guys that we got.”

Despite the inexperience in certain positions on defense, Cooper said he expects several notable players to show what they are capable of.

At the inside linebacker spot, Cooper said Charlie Biskup, Cohen Campbell and Clayton Day are battling it out for the starting job.

“We’re interested to see who does well in the scrimmages and see who emerges as that guy,” Cooper said.

Carson Graham is another name that Cooper notes could have a breakout season.

“Very intelligent player,” Cooper said. “He’s going to play in the (secondary) and take the role Michael Kanagy (had last year). Big shoes to fill, but he’s a great athlete, he plays multiple sports and he’s just a super kid. He works really hard, so we’re excited about his presence on that side of the ball.

SPECIAL TEAMS

On the third side of the ball, Eliza Hirst will retain place kicking duties after going 30-for-36 on PATs and 1-for-2 on field goals last year.

Perry is also expected to resume return duties on punts and kickoffs.

But, Cooper said they’re having an open competition in the leadup to the season to see who else will emerge in the return game.

“We’re going to be aggressive on special teams, like always,” Cooper said.

“They’re all returning from last year. Having a bunch of sophomores in those roles made it a little bit difficult come crunch time, but I think those guys and Eliza are all going to improve, so we’re excited.”

West Branch opens the season at 7 p.m. Aug. 18 at Canfield.

2023 Schedule

Aug. 18 at Canfield 7 p.m.

Aug. 25 at Woodridge 7 p.m.

Sept. 1 Girard 7 p.m.

Sept. 8 at Ridgewood 7 p.m.

Sept. 15 Howland 7 p.m.

Sept. 22 at Minerva* 7 p.m.

Sept. 29 Marlington* 7 p.m.

Oct. 6 Alliance* 7 p.m.

Oct. 13 Carrollton* 7 p.m.

Oct. 20 at Salem* 7 p.m.

*Conference game

2022 Results (12-2)

Canfield (14-1) L 31-35

Woodridge (7-4) W 42-13

at Revere (3-7) W 49-7

Ridgewood (8-4) W 38-14

at Howland (2-8) W 48-15

Minerva (0-9) W 57-7

at Marlington (1-9) W 53-16

at Alliance (8-3) W 42-35

at Carrollton (7-4) W 42-20

Salem (6-5) W 48-38

#Field (4-7) W 52-20

#Struthers (7-5) W 54-35

#Buchtel (7-5) W 41-33

#Jefferson Area (11-4) L 37-41

#-OHSAA Division IV playoff game

Coaching staff

Head coach: Tim Cooper, 2nd season, 12-2

Staff: Ken Harris, Shawn Alazaus, Nick Cooper, Carl Davanzo, Chris Thomas, Bob Shepherd, Cam Martig, Brock Hillyer, Paul Hostetter, Bryce Ostheimer.

Team facts

Division IV, Region 13

Northeastern Buckeye Conference

Players on roster: 46

Returning Letterwinners (15): Nick Love, Joey Jackson, Anthony Perry, Jeremiah Thomas, Garin Harlan, Carson Graham, Maddox Coleman, Colby Smith, Cooper Anderson, Beau Alazaus, Dom Slimon, Cam Summers, Jax Brooks, Eliza Hirst, Boston Mulinix

2022 season: Despite a narrow defeat to eventual Division III state champion Canfield in their season opener, the Warriors went on to win nine straight games during the regular season. West Branch earned the top seed in the region, and after three wins to open the playoffs, the Warriors finished the season as regional runner up in Division IV, Region 13 for the second straight season.