O'Dea Fighting Irish Dominate Ballard Beavers 48-0

By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium

Last night, the O’Dea Fighting Irish improved to 6-0 in the Metro League with a 48-0 victory over the Ballard Beavers, and racked up 434 rushing yards in the process.
Ballard opened the game with possession of the ball, and quarterback Eli Gebbie looked to set the tone early with runs of 7 and 8 yards, respectively, to move the chains. But O’Dea’s defense tightened up quickly, forcing incompletions on second and third down that led to a punt by Ballard.

Once they took possession of the ball, O’Dea wasted no time finding their rhythm on offense. Running back Uriah Stringfield opened their first drive with a 5-yard run, and quarterback Hutton Leverett connected with Ray Clark III for a first down. Peyton Egan then darted up the field for a 17-yard gain, and J’Shaun Wilson finished the drive with a 22-yard touchdown run to give O’Dea a 7-0 lead after a successful extra point attempt with 8:36 left in the quarter.

Ballard’s struggles continued on their next possession. A false start penalty, followed by a 12-yard sack by O’Dea’s Keelan Thomas on Gebbie, forced Ballard to punt the ball once again.

The two teams exchanged possessions before O’Dea regained possession of the ball and put their foot on the gas, as the Fighting Irish needed just three plays to drive 90 yards for a touchdown. Stringfield got the O’Dea offense going with a 13-yard run before Peyton exploded down the sideline for a 77-yard touchdown run. With the extra point good, O’Dea extended their lead to 14-0 with 1:25 left in the first.

Ballard attempted to answer, but back-to-back passes were batted down by the O’Dea defense at the line of scrimmage, the first by Sioeli Siale and the second by Radley McReynolds. An incomplete pass on third down forced yet another punt for Ballard.
Once O’Dea regained possession, Leverett quickly connected on back-to-back completions to David Schwerzel and Siosaia Malietufa, then handed off to Wilson and Owen Brustkern, who scored on a 20-yard touchdown run to close the quarter with O’Dea leading 21-0.

Ballard started the second quarter with a bit more energy and hope. Gebbie connected with Owen Gallo for 26 yards, then with Jackson Keller for 15 more. But just as they began to gain some momentum, Gebbie lost the ball on a fumble, which was recovered by O’Dea’s Keelan Thomas.

From that point on, O’Dea opened the floodgates. Max Speller broke loose for a 33-yard run, and Stringfield followed with two runs, the second going 26 yards for a touchdown. The extra point made it 28-0 with 7:26 remaining in the half.

The Beavers seemed to find a bit of rhythm, with Gebbie running for 15 yards and connecting on a pass to Keller. But yet again, O’Dea’s defense didn’t let up. Timo Sousou sacked Gebbie on third down, forcing another Ballard punt.

With the first half winding down, O’Dea brought in quarterback Allias Moimoi, who completed a pass to Giulio Banchero. J’Andre Castillo followed with a 34-yard run, and J’Shaun Wilson added to the O’Dea momentum with a 40-yard touchdown run, as O’Dea extended their lead to 35-0 with just under a minute left in the half.

Ballard’s final series before halftime showed a glimpse of hope. Gebbie found Gallo for a 46-yard gain, and the Beavers were in scoring range. But time quickly ran out as Gebbie ran around trying to dodge O’Dea defenders but wasn’t able to reach the end zone, and the first half ended with O’Dea leading comfortably, 35-0.

To begin the second half, O’Dea picked up right where they left off. Stringfield chipped in both an 11- and a 5-yard run. Then on 4th and 2 at the Ballard 30, Stringfield burst through the defense for 27 yards to give the Fighting Irish a first and goal at the 3-yard line. Two plays later, Stringfield struck again with his second touchdown of the game. However, Ballard managed to block the extra point kick attempt, and the score stood at 41-0.

Ballard’s offense continued to stall in the third quarter. After three consecutive incompletions, the Beavers were forced to punt yet again. Before the quarter ended, O’Dea’s J’Andre Castillo broke free for a 20-yard gain, pushing the Irish deep into Ballard territory heading into the final period.

In the fourth quarter, O’Dea began rotating in reserve players but saw no drop in execution. Jayden Magee, Michael Gregov, and Manaia Titialii-McKinnon helped keep the offense moving. Titialii-McKinnon finished the drive with a 20-yard touchdown run, and with the extra point, O’Dea pushed the lead to 48–0 with under five minutes remaining.

With a running clock, Ballard mounted one final drive in hopes of avoiding a shutout. Gebbie showed resilience, rushing for 20 yards and setting up first-and-goal inside the 10. But any hopes of a score were dashed in the closing seconds when his final pass was intercepted in the end zone by O’Dea’s Micah Thornock to seal O’Dea’s 48-0 victory over Ballard.