St, Clairsville, OH -- Warrior football is back. West Branch opened the 2026 season Friday night with a trip to St. Clairsville, where the Warriors and Red Devils were featured as the WTOV 9 Game of the Week. Red Devil fans came expecting a battle, and it looked that way early, but West Branch took control as the game went on and rolled to a 37-6 win.
First Half
Early on, both teams were feeling each other out. Each side found some offensive success, but neither could turn it into points. That changed when
Grady Hirst and the ground attack got going, capping the drive with a one-yard touchdown from senior running back
Damon Edwards.
Cruz Leone's extra point was good, and West Branch led 7-0.
Whatever was said by coach Cooper and his staff after the first quarter, it worked. West Branch found another gear in the second, scoring twice and picking up a defensive safety along the way.
Grady Hirst broke free for a 26 yard rushing touchdown, and less than two minutes later a bad snap sailed out of the end zone for a safety. Moments after that, Hirst found the end zone again on the ground for his second rushing touchdown of the night, putting the Warriors up 23-0 at halftime. That's a tough hole to climb out of against a team coached by Cooper. When West Branch builds a big lead, they hold it.
Second Half
Down 23-0, the energy from the home crowd was still relatively high, hoping for a comeback. That didn't happen. While only two more scores came in the second half, the game was firmly under West Branch's control, with a big shoutout to the offensive line for dominating the line of scrimmage. The defense stepped up as well, with
Landon Coffee coming up with a fumble recovery.
Gavin Marshall punched in a 4 yard touchdown run to make it 30-0 and trigger the running clock, before
Damon Edwards put the exclamation point on the night with a 6 yard score, pushing the lead to 37-0.
St. Clairsville got on the board with 1:44 left in the fourth, but a botched extra point snap left the final score at 37-6. If St. Clairsville didn't know what Warrior football was about coming in, they had a pretty clear picture of it by the final whistle.
Offensive Highlights
- 246 total team rushing yds
- QB Grady Hirst: 7-11, 87 yards passing; 14 carries, 123 yards, 2 TDs
- RB Damon Edwards: 9 carries, 46 yards, 2 TDs
- RB JJ Marra: 7 carries, 54 yards
- RB/WR Gavin Marshall: 3 carries, 12 yards, 1 TD; 2 catches, 19 yards
- WR/TE Landon Coffee: 2 catches, 47 yards
Defensive Highlights
What's Next: At 1-0 on the season, West Branch hits the road again next week to face New Philadelphia. The Quakers are coming off a 20-10 loss to Louisville. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
