The West Branch football team moved to 5-0 on the season with a 48-13 victory over Howland on Friday night.  In a penalty filled contest, 28 in total, the Warriors overcame some adversity to take control of the game in the second half to defeat the Tigers.  

After taking an early 13-0 lead on a Jeremiah Thomas to Grady Hirst seven yard touchdown pass and a Boston Mulinix one yard touchdown run, the Tigers responded with a 76 yard touchdown reception to cut the lead to six.  West Branch would counter when Thomas hit Perry on a streak down the sideline for a 42 yard touchdown giving the Warriors a 20-7 lead at the break.

In the second half, Thomas and Perry once again hooked up, this time for 87 yards, expanding the West Branch lead to 27-7.  On the Warriors next possession, Thomas took a quarterback iso to the house for a 70 yard touchdown run putting West Branch in control at 34-7.  Howland would tack on a three yard touchdown run with 3:04 to play in the third to cut the lead to 34-13, but that was as close as they would get.  In the fourth quarter Thomas added two more touchdown passes, one to Joey Jackson from 13 yards out and one to Gavin Gregory from eight yards giving the Warriors a 48-13 lead and forcing a running clock to close out the game.

Thomas accounted for six touchdowns on the day, five through the air and one on the ground.  He finished 11-21 passing for 205 yards while carrying the ball 14 times for 243 yards.  Perry was the leading receiver finishing with 147 yards and two scores on five catches.  Gregory caught three balls for 34 yards with the touchdown.  On the ground, Mulinix carried 13 times for 86 yards and a touchdown.  

Defensively, Lukas Black finished the night with seven tackles while Jack Flickinger added five.  Gavin Gregory had four tackles but also knocked down three passes at the line of scrimmage.  Gavin Hang finished with a sack for West Branch.

The Warriors will return home next week for its annual homecoming game.  West Branch will open up EBC play also as the Minerva Lions come to Clinton Heacock Stadium.  Kickoff is set for 7 PM.