By Airik Myers
The Seattle Medium
In this week’s high school game of the week, we had an exciting matchup of undefeated teams as the Eastside Catholic Crusaders took on the O’Dea Fighting Irish.
This was a game full of big moment plays by both teams on offense and defense. The first quarter was a balanced game from both teams, with a 25-yard touchdown run by Tamaaulelei Ma’alona of O’Dea for the first score of the game. But in response, the Crusaders marched right down the field and running back Derek Ray punched in a short yardage touchdown run to tie the game at 7.
On the next possession for the Irish, Sam Adams of the Crusaders made one of his many big plays on the night with an interception that he returned 40 yards to put his team back in scoring position. The play set up another Crusader score as Ray ran it in from 7 yards out for a touchdown to put Eastside up 14-7 after a successful extra point attempt.
After some great defensive plays by O’Dea in the second quarter — a blocked punt by Gabe Schumer and an interception by Mishael Powell — the first half came to an end.
The second half was more of the same for the Crusaders offense. After a field goal by the Irish, Eastside’s Michael Franklin scored on a 7-yard touchdown run, and an extra point put Eastside up by 11, at 21-10.
With a strong drive down the field at the end of the third quarter, O’Dea kicked a field goal with 16 seconds left before the final quarter. To start the 4th quarter, Eastside again began to successfully drive down the field, but this time, the Irish defense held strong and forced a field goal. Trailing 24-13 and a chance to close the gap, the Irish began to march down the field. But Sam Adams was not having it. On a pass from O’Dea quarterback Emonte Scott, Adams slipped in front of the receiver for an interception. But this was a game ending interception, as he returned it for a touchdown from 55 yards out to put the game out of reach.
Final score: O’Dea 13, Eastside 31
Pictorial Highlights of O’Dea vs Eastside Catholic
