Warriors Use 2nd Half Surge to Top Trojans, 21-20

Mount Union- The West Branch Warriors used a strong 2nd half to defeat the Trojans of Mount Union by a score of 21-20 on Friday Night. Unlike previous weeks, the Warriors came out of the gates slow. The Warriors’ first three drives consisted of turning the ball over on 4th down, fumbling the ball away, and a punt. The Warriors finally got things going during the 2nd quarter, with running back Derek Yingling finding the endzone from 24 yards out on 4th down. Along with a Kyle Godin extra-point, that was all the scoring that West Branch would get during the first half.

The story of the first half was West Branch giving Mount Union extra chances. The Warriors committed two turnovers in the frame. As previously stated, a Warrior fumble in the first quarter led to a Trojan score, and an interception thrown by quarterback Ayden Gutierrez gave the Trojans an extra possession before the half.

As bad as the first half may have seemed for the Warriors, they only trailed by 7 at the half. By the time the second half started, it was as if the Warriors were a completely different team. The defense forced a 3-and-out on the opening possesion of the half, and the Offense immediately went to work. Yingling capped off a 9-play, 82-yard drive with another rushing touchdown to knot things up at 14. On the very next drive, Will Herring intercepted MU quarterback Quinton Posey, and Gutierrez found paydirt a few plays later to give West Branch their first lead of the night. All of the momentum was on the visitor’s sideline.

“We came out a little flat and they got to us early,” West Branch Head Coach Kevin Hubler said. “However, we were able to answer the bell and come out and play better football in the 2nd half. I give credit to the leadership on our team for not letting a slow start keep us down. We were able to pick up our energy and play an excellent 2nd half of football.”

Both Offenses went silent until Posey found the endzone on a long run to bring the Trojans within one. The extra-point however was wide left, and West Branch still led by one. The teams went back and forth for the rest of the game, and with time running down, the Warrior defense forced a turnover-on-downs to get the ball back. From there, the Warriors were able to run the clock out and hold onto their fourth victory of the year.

“Even though we were down at the half, we still felt that we were fine,” Will Herring said. We managed to not let our early turnovers and mistakes affect us, and eventually our defense was able to force stops and create a turnover of our own. As a result, our offense began to gain confidence and put points on the board.”

West Branch earned 325 total yards of offense, while Mount Union earned 295.

West Branch (4-1) hosts Everett (3-2) this Friday for Homecoming.

BOX SCORE:

Score By Quarters

West Branch 0 7 14 0

Mount Union 7 7 0 6

Individual Statistics

Rushing:

Derek Yingling 36-229 (2 TD’s)

Will Herring 3-34

Ayden Gutierrez 6-(-3) (1 TD)

Passing: