The Official 2021 EBC football thread

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Canfield added as West Branch's 2022 regular-season football opener​

Mike Keating
The Alliance Review
West Branch was expecting to open the 2022 football season against East Liverpool for the second straight season.
The Potters, who were scheduled to meet the Warriors at Clinton Heacock Stadium in Week 1, recently opted out of a two-year home-and-home agreement.
West Branch, which defeated East Liverpool 47-6 on August 20 to lay the groundwork for a 13-1 season and a Division IV regional runner-up finish, found a replacement game with Canfield, which has become an elite program under head coach Mike Pavlansky. The teams reached an agreement for a home-and-home series, with the first game slated to be played at West Branch on August 19, 2022.
"They're a Division III high school, with one of the best programs in that division in the state," West Branch head coach Ken Harris said. "They're a big, strong, physical team that is well-coached."
Canfield defeated Poland Seminary 24-12 in its first regular-season game this fall, a game which renewed a rivalry between former conference and opponents.
"We both decided to move the game the third week and that opened up the first date," said Pavlansky, whose brother Tom piloted Poland to an 8-4 season which ended with a 33-21 regional quarterfinal loss to West Branch at Clinton Heacock Stadium.
"That third date will be on Labor Day weekend, which we feel will be more suitable to fans."
Mike Pavlansky, who concluded his 21st season as Canfield head coach with a 27-14 regional semifinal loss to Chardon, has a past history against West Branch. He was the Cardinals' head coach when they played the Warriors in 2002, the final year of Jim Laut's storied career, and in 2003, the first of two seasons when Steve Saunier was West Branch's head coach.
"We had two great games," Pavlansky said. "We beat them at West Branch in 2002 [25-13] and they beat us at our place the following season [23-14]. I think it will be a good game. Ken has done a great job the last two seasons with them."
The teams have met 31 times overall, with West Branch holding a 22-9 edge in the series. The Warriors are 8-3 all-time against Canfield at Clinton Heacock Stadium. They were members of the Turnpike Conference, a short-lived league in the early 60s, and the Mahoning Valley Conference from 1972-80.
Pavlansky's best Canfield team was in 2005 when the Cardinals blanked the Louisville Leopards 7-0 in a regional title contest and reached the Division II state championship game in Massillon, falling 31-29 to Toledo Central Catholic.
During his 21 seasons, Pavlansky has coached scores of players, including Frank Ross and Sean Baker, who shared the quarterback duties on that 2005 state runner-up team and now are employed as special teams coaches with the Houston Texans.
"They're both coaching the same unit, just like they both played quarterback for us on that team," Pavlansky said. "Frank is the coordinator and Sean is the assistant. They are examples of the hard-working kids I've been fortunate enough to coach."
Once the West Branch-Canfield series was finalized, with the 2023 contest to be played at Bob Dove Field, Mike Pavlansky picked the brain of his brother about West Branch.
"I talked to Tom about them, specifically their trigger guy [quarterback Dru DeShields]," Mike Pavlansky said. "I also noticed they rotated seven or eight guys on their offensive line and they also rotated some guys on their defensive line."
DeShields, a junior, set multiple passing records during his first season as West Branch's starting quarterback. Canfield, however, will return two-year starting quarterback Broc Lowry for his senior season in 2022.
"Their quarterback is good and they also are a very balanced team offensively, which is different than most of the teams we face," Harris said.
Canfield isn't the only new addition to West Branch's 2022 football schedule. West Lafayette Ridgewood, which defeated Marlington 57-14 in Week 3 this season and finished 10-2, losing to Wheelersburg in the second round of the Division V tournament, will visit West Branch in Week 4.
Marlington will play host to Ridgewood the week prior, on September 2.
"They're a seasoned team that has made postseason runs and are led by a veteran head coach [Bill Slusser]," Harris said of the Generals. "They're physical and do everything well."
With the move by Canton South to the Principals Athletic Conference, West Branch and the other Eastern Buckeye Conference teams will play the first five regular-season games against non-conference opponents. Woodridge, Revere and Howland return to the Warriors' schedule.
Ironically, East Liverpool replaced West Branch for its opening game with another EBC school, Minerva.
West Branch will attack that non-conference and conference menu next season minus seniors and key contributors Nick Wilson, Jed Smith, Jaxon Hendershott, Zach Peters, Ryan Irwin, Cayden Coleman, Steven Marra, Ben Tolson, Greg Rockwell, Caleb Adams and Chris Sloan.
"I really enjoyed coaching those seniors," Harris said. "They got along and were like a family, ribbing each other before practice but getting serious once practice began and getting down to work. Those seniors showed great leadership and stepped up, and we hope [our returners] learned a lot from them and can step up and help us compete against a great schedule."

2022 WEST BRANCH FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Friday, August 19 - Canfield
Friday, August 26 - Woodridge
Friday, September 2 - at Revere
Friday, September 9 - Ridgewood
Friday, September 16 - at Howland
Friday, September 23 - Minerva
Friday, September 30 - at Marlington
Friday, October 7 - at Alliance
Friday, October 14 - at Carrollton
Saturday, October 22 - Salem
 
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