By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
The 3A football season opened with a high-scoring showdown between the defending state champion O’Dea Fighting Irish and the Roosevelt Roughriders, as big plays helped propel O’Dea to a 56-28 victory.
Led by J’Shaun Wilson, who rushed for 229 yards and three touchdowns on just nine carries, the Fighting Irish accumulated over 450 yards of offense in an impressive season-opening performance. Wilson’s three touchdown runs, two from 65 yards and another from 22 yards, highlighted an explosive rushing attack that Roosevelt struggled to contain throughout the game.
Roosevelt received the opening kickoff and began the game with quarterback Rece Shewey trying to establish a passing rhythm. He connected with Owen Poort for an 11-yard gain, but penalties eventually pushed the Roughriders backward and forced them to punt.
O’Dea immediately turned the special-teams play into points when Nino Moksivong returned the punt 60 yards for a touchdown. Alec Petricic added the extra point to give the Fighting Irish a 7-0 lead.
After Roosevelt’s next possession ended with another punt, O’Dea struck again. Wilson ripped off a 13-yard run before Max Speller broke loose for a 28-yard touchdown run, giving the Irish a 14-0 advantage.
Roosevelt quickly showed it could produce big plays of its own. Shewey connected with Poort on an 80-yard touchdown pass, and Poort added the extra point to cut the lead to 14-7 with 5:33 remaining in the first quarter.
The scoring pace continued on O’Dea’s next possession. Quarterback Allias Moimoi connected with Kaydon Tatum for six yards, while Wilson added runs of 10 and 13 yards to help move the Irish down the field. Jaxon Turner finished the drive with an 18-yard touchdown run to extend O’Dea’s lead to 21-7.
But Roosevelt again attacked downfield. After Lleyton Cross broke free for a 26-yard run, Shewey connected with Poort on a 46-yard touchdown pass, pulling the Roughriders within 21-14 with 2:22 remaining.
With two long touchdown passes in the opening quarter, Shewey and Poort were beginning to test O’Dea’s secondary and give Roosevelt an answer to the Fighting Irish’s typically stingy defense.
Any momentum from the score was short-lived. Wilson broke loose for a 65-yard touchdown run on O’Dea’s next possession, giving the Irish a 28-14 lead heading into the second quarter.
Roosevelt opened the second quarter with a 13-yard run by Ben Baker, but the drive stalled after Tanu Noa sacked Shewey and the Roughriders failed to convert on fourth down.
O’Dea capitalized with another scoring drive. Wilson gained 13 yards, Speller added 11 and Moksivong broke off a 19-yard run before Moimoi connected with Tatum on a 19-yard touchdown pass, pushing the lead to 35-14 with 7:48 left in the half.
Roosevelt threatened to cut into the deficit before halftime. A 66-yard completion from Shewey to Poort moved the Roughriders deep into O’Dea territory. After a personal foul moved Roosevelt closer, O’Dea recorded a big tackle on Mikell Mitchell before Brady Clisham sacked Shewey on third down. Roosevelt’s fourth-down pass fell incomplete with 32 seconds remaining, ending the scoring threat.
The goal-line stand allowed O’Dea to take a 35-14 advantage into halftime despite Roosevelt’s ability to generate big plays through the air.
O’Dea needed only one offensive play in the second half to add to its lead. Wilson took the ball 65 yards for his second long touchdown run of the game, making it 42-14 in favor of O’Dea.
Roosevelt needed little time to answer. Shewey connected with Cross on a 70-yard touchdown pass, giving the Roughriders their third touchdown through the air and cutting O’Dea’s lead to 42-21 with 11:20 remaining in the third quarter.
The Irish ground game continued to produce. Moksivong broke loose for 43 yards on the next possession, and Wilson followed with a 22-yard touchdown run for his third score of the night. After Roosevelt later turned the ball over on downs, Speller scored his second touchdown on an 18-yard run to extend O’Dea’s lead to 56-21.
With the lead firmly in hand, O’Dea turned to its reserves, using runs from Jayden Magee, Baylor Childers, Sincere Butler and Calder Moore to continue working the clock and take a 56-21 lead into the fourth quarter.
O’Dea started the fourth quarter with possession and drove deep into Roosevelt territory, but Roosevelt’s Alex Bugbee blocked Alec Petricic’s field-goal attempt to keep the score at 56-21.
Roosevelt then mounted a late comeback attempt, with Shewey finding Vincent Sclafani on a long pass to set up the offense inside the O’Dea 10-yard line. After a false start and an incomplete pass, Kosta Apostolou rushed for a 2-yard touchdown, and Poort added the extra point to make it 56-28 with 3:06 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Roosevelt attempted an onside kick, but after three straight incomplete passes, O’Dea’s Sa’Toray Roberson intercepted Shewey. O’Dea then used runs from Joe Vinson to move the chains and run out the clock, securing a 56-28 victory.
O’Dea’s rushing numbers illustrated just how difficult its ground game had been to contain. The Fighting Irish accumulated 419 yards on 27 rushing attempts, an average of 15.5 yards per carry. Wilson accounted for 229 of those yards while averaging 25.4 yards on his nine carries. Moksivong added 62 yards on two carries, an average of 31 yards per attempt, while Speller rushed for 57 yards and two touchdowns on three carries, averaging 19 yards per attempt.
Roosevelt’s passing attack provided a different kind of challenge for the defending state champions. Shewey threw three touchdown passes, while Poort finished with 10 receptions for 248 yards and two touchdown receptions. He also rushed for 37 yards, giving him 285 yards from scrimmage.
After the game, O’Dea head coach Monte Kohler was pleased to open the season with a win but made it clear that the defending champions still have plenty to improve upon if they hope to return to Husky Stadium in December.
“We have a lot of work to do. I say it every year, a good football team improves the most from game one to game two and that has to happen,” said Kohler. “We have to compete from the very first snap, we have to come ready to go, and we have to do the little things right.”
Scoring Summary
O’Dea
- Nino Moksivong — 60-yard punt-return TD
- Max Speller — 28-yard TD run
- Jaxon Turner — 18-yard TD run
- J’Shaun Wilson — 65-yard TD run
- Kaydon Tatum — 19-yard TD reception from Allias Moimoi
- J’Shaun Wilson — 65-yard TD run
- J’Shaun Wilson — 22-yard TD run
- Max Speller — 18-yard TD run
Roosevelt
- Owen Poort — 80-yard TD reception from Rece Shewey
- Owen Poort — 46-yard TD reception from Shewey
- Lleyton Cross — 70-yard TD reception from Shewey
- Kosta Apostolou — 2-yard TD run
O’Dea — Offensive Stats
Rushing
| Player | Carries | Yards | Avg. | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| J’Shaun Wilson | 9 | 229 | 25.4 | 3 |
| Nino Moksivong | 2 | 62 | 31.0 | 0 |
| Max Speller | 3 | 57 | 19.0 | 2 |
| Jaxon Turner | 2 | 23 | 11.5 | 1 |
| Jayden Magee | 5 | 19 | 3.8 | 0 |
| Joe Vinson | 2 | 14 | 7.0 | 0 |
| Baylor Childers | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 |
| Sincere Butler | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 0 |
| Calder Moore | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 0 |
| Allias Moimoi | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 0 |
| Team documented | 27 | 419 | 15.5 | 6 |
Passing
| Player | Comp. | Att. | Yards | TD | INT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allias Moimoi | 2 | 4 | 25 | 1 | 0 |
Roosevelt — Offensive Stats
Passing
| Player | Comp. | Att. | Yards | TD | INT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rece Shewey | 15 | 43 | 323 | 3 | 1 |
Rushing
| Player | Carries | Yards | Avg. | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Owen Poort | 3 | 37 | 12.3 | 0 |
| Ben Baker | 3 | 26 | 8.7 | 0 |
| Lleyton Cross | 1 | 26 | 26.0 | 0 |
| Rece Shewey | 2 | 18 | 9.0 | 0 |
| James Link | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 0 |
| Vincent Sclafani | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 0 |
| Kosta Apostolou | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 1 |
| Kai Plyler | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 |
| Documented total | 13 | 117 | 9.0 | 1 |
Pictorial Highlights of O’Dea vs Roosevelt
Staff Photos/Chris B. Bennett
