By Eric Hamilton

Mike Smith threw for 247 yards and four touchdowns in his second varsity start.

BELOIT — In the first half of Friday’s game against visiting Beaver Local, the West Branch High no-huddle offense gave a whole new meaning to the spread offense.

You might as well call it the spread defense — because that’s what it does.

After putting the Beavers’ defense on its heels with two long touchdown passes in the first quarter, the Warriors’ offense took advantage of the thin defense up the middle with its running game.

After a nearly flawless first half, West Branch scored on four of its first five possessions to build a 24-0 halftime lead and coasted to a convincing 46-6 victory.

Quarterback Mike Smith, in just his second varsity start, threw for 247 yards — including 198 in the first half — and four touchdowns.

“Mike really played well for us tonight in the first half,” said West Branch coach Bob Altenhof. “He was calm and confident. We didn’t pass much last week, but we were able to tonight.

“We just wanted to take what they’d give us tonight. I guess they decided to try to stop our run, so we were able to throw on them. And when you get up two or three touchdowns, you can try to do whatever you want.”

The Beavers’ powerful running game that amassed over 300 yards against East Liverpool in Week 1, couldn’t match West Branch’s high-octane offense.

Beaver Local did run for 178 yards, but most came in the second half when the game was out of reach.

The West Branch (2-0) defense registered three sacks, intercepted one pass and nearly pitched a shutout.

The Beavers’ best scoring opportunity in the opening half came on their third possession.

Down 17-0, Beaver Local mounted a 14-play drive, pounding to the West Branch 8. After a 3-yard loss on third down, the Beavers gambled on fourth-and-8 from the 11.

But Warrior Eric Rogel foiled the drive as he sacked quarterback Shawn Mercer to complete the defensive stand.

The Beavers’ defense got virtually no pressure on Smith, who was able to pick apart the pass defense in the first half.

West Branch drove 85 yards in seven plays on its next possession, scoring on a 14-yard run by Mark Smith. That score increased the Warriors’ advantage to 24-0 with 2:30 left in the second quarter.

After 15 more West Branch points in the third quarter, Beaver Local avoided the shutout with 7:50 left in the game via a 9-yard TD run by Dustin Sprouse that cut the deficit to 39-6.

“We weren’t out of breath, but we were definitely losing up on that scoreboard,” said Beaver Local (1-1) coach Rich Wright. “I thought maybe we could move the ball and get closer in that third quarter, but we didn’t score on that first series.

“They did a great job on us defensively and they have a lot of athletes on offense and took advantage of our young secondary.”