by CANFIELD, OH— South Range high school was host of the Region 13 Division IV Regional Final matchup between the West Branch Warriors and the Ursuline Fighting Irish. These two met in the Regional Semifinal just last year and Ursuline moved on with a 38-31 victory.
To quickly recap, Ursuline was up 38-19 with about 5 min left in 3rd quarter then, the Warriors stormed back. West Branch went on to score 12 unanswered to trim the deficit to 31-38 with about 2 minutes to go in the 4th. The Fighting Irish would be able to whittle down the rest of the clock and did an excellent job controlling the ball to hold on.
Fast forward to November 18, Warriors play maker extraordinaire and quarterback Dru DeShields chatted with WKBN’s Danielle Podlaski about getting another shot against Ursuline. “We wanted another rematch on them… we were waiting for whole entire season.”
Both head coaches have the ultimate respect for another as well. Dan Reardon for the Irish said, “They’ve shown the ability to put up points… we have great respect for their offense.”
Ken Harris for the “visiting” Warriors said, “Playing good teams like Ursuline pushes you [to get better].” Each team has averaged over 40 points per game in the 2021-2022 campaign. West Branch has put up around 48 while Ursuline not too far behind with 43, respectively.
One of those offenses was able to light up the scoreboard on Friday night with the Fighting Irish jumping out to a 35-14 lead at halftime and never really looking back.
Leading the charge was Demarcus McElroy. He was simply unstoppable running roughshod over the West Branch defense. However, it was not a flawless start as DeShields intercepted Brady Shannon’s pass and ran it back to the 19 yard line of Ursuline.
The green on white would run it in from 11 yards out to go up 7-0.
Shannon would rebound nicely with a 46 yard strike to Dean Boyd for a 46 yard house call down the left side line.
Nick Wilson, a 1,000 yard receiver this season answered right back with a short touchdown grab to go back up early.
Number 5 for the Fighting Irish would continue the back and forth affair responding with another dime for six. This time Jakylan Irving would be the beneficiary for 37 yards. One area of concern this year for Reardon’s crew has been the defense. They have coughed up around 33 points per game and with West Branch being so potent it seemed like a tall task.
But, in the first half, the white on green was great on 4th down, holding the Warriors to 0/2. One of those stand featured a 15 yard sack by sophomore Tyreq Donlow. Even better, they would turn those stops into 7 points each time. McElroy capped off both of those possessions. One being a 41 yard catch and tackle-breaking run and a 15 yard gallop.
Heading into the half with a 21 point lead and the ball to start the second half, Ursuline would ride their momentum and score quickly. Brady Shannon would do it himself on a quarterback keeper close to the goal line.
Just like the last meeting, West Branch dug deep and made things a little more interesting. It took them only three plays to find some semblance of rhythm offensively. DeShields tossed one into the endzone to trim the lead down with about 10 minutes to go in the third.
The defense came alive and fed off the energy getting a much needed interception. Dru finished off the drive again, finding Jaxon Hendershott for a 4 yard grab. Unfortunately the PAT would miss and leave the score heading into the 4th at 42-27.
After some stout defense by West Branch in the redzone, DeShields and the crew trotted back on to field to hopefully find some more magic to creep closer. The run game got them down to about midfield with around 10 minutes to play. Coach Harris would finally dial up a passing play but, it backfired. Marc Manning got in front of the route and ran it back deep into Warrior territory.
There to extend the lead once more was none other than McElroy. He punched it into the endzone and gave a Mike Tyson-like punch to the gut of the Warrior players and fans. Forcing another turnover on downs, Brady Shannon tacked another TD of his own. His 34 yard dash expanded their advantage to 57-27.
As the smoke settled over South Range’s gorgeous field, the Fighting Irish would be the ones to come out of it and continue another excellent season as they look ahead to Port Clinton. West Branch ends their amazing season at 13-1.
Game Balls: Ursuline- Demarcus McElroy 4 TDs and Brady Shannon 5 TDs
West Branch- Nick Wilson 4 TDs
Really great article!