O'Dea Defeats West Seattle in Metro League Showdown

By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium

Last night, the top two teams in the Metro League, the O’Dea Fighting Irish and the West Seattle Wildcats, squared off in a battle of unbeaten teams to close out the regular season schedule.

West Seattle started the game off strong behind quarterback Desmond Parkinson. The Wildcats moved the ball efficiently down the field as Parkinson connected with Grady Scheff, Aidan Croppi and LJ Moody. But after two incomplete passes, West Seattle’s first possession ended on a missed 20-yard field goal, leaving the game scoreless.

O’Dea responded by showcasing their physicality on their first possession. O’Dea running back Uriah Stringfield darted for 17 yards on his first run of the night, followed by a few runs from Peyton Egan and Max Speller. However, a fumble by Stringfield, which was recovered by West Seattle’s Ari Fein-Wallace, gave the Wildcats possession near midfield.

Defensively, both teams shined during the early moments of the game, as the teams battled to a 0-0 tie at the end of the first quarter.

However, O’Dea found their offensive rhythm during the second quarter. Behind a dominant offensive line and the hard running of Stringfield, Speller and J Shaun Wilson, the Fighting Irish put together their first scoring drive of the night. Wilson finished the drive with a 13-yard touchdown run to give O’Dea a 7-0 lead with just over 11 minutes left in the first half.

After a quick possession by West Seattle, O’Dea got right back to work. Stringfield led the offense with another efficient drive and scored on a 7-yard touchdown run halfway through the quarter, bringing O’Dea’s lead to 14-0.

West Seattle’s next opportunity with the ball started with a 43-yard punt return from Moody to set up the Wildcats in O’Dea territory. Parkinson connected with Jesse Hansen-Wilson and Moody for completions to move the ball down to the 10-yard line, but ultimately, they were unable to score. A 10-yard field goal attempt was blocked by O’Dea’s Nino Moksivong and returned 71 yards by Ray Clark III, completely shifting the momentum of the game to the Fighting Irish.

O’Dea quickly took advantage of the turnover, as David Schwerzel added a 15-yard run to the 2-yard line that set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Speller to give the Fighting Irish a 21-0 lead with 3:37 remaining in the half.

West Seattle finally showed some signs of life during their next possession. Parkinson completed multiple passes to Esayas Brigham, Croppi and Justice Nguyen, finishing the drive with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Nguyen. However, the extra point was blocked, as the Wildcats trimmed the lead to 21-6.

O’Dea immediately responded, as quarterback Allias Moimoi connected with Giulio Banchero for a 50-yard touchdown pass, making the score 28-6 with just over a minute left in the first half. West Seattle countered, as Parkinson led a quick drive, again connecting with Nguyen on a 4-yard touchdown pass. The Wildcats completed a two-point conversion, cutting the O’Dea lead to 28-14 at halftime.

After halftime, O’Dea wasted no time putting points on the board. Stringfield ran for 19 yards before Timo Sousou ended their first possession of the half with a 17-yard touchdown run to give O’Dea a 35-14 lead just two minutes into the half.

However, West Seattle couldn’t respond this time. Parkinson’s passes fell incomplete under intense pressure from O’Dea’s defense, which was led by Clemente Cotto and Sousou, forcing another Wildcat punt. O’Dea struck again, as Stringfield and Wilson led another scoring drive for the Fighting Irish. Stringfield capped off the drive with a 9-yard touchdown run, as O’Dea took a 42-14 lead with 8:18 remaining in the third quarter.

As the third quarter progressed, O’Dea’s defense continued to disrupt West Seattle’s offense. Forced turnovers and sacks by the O’Dea defense kept the Wildcats off the scoreboard, and the third quarter ended with the Fighting Irish still holding a 42-14 lead.

In the final quarter, the Fighting Irish continued to build on their momentum. Wilson added another touchdown run early in the quarter to make it 49-14. Backup quarterback Carlos Patino then entered for West Seattle, connecting with Savion Ware for a short gain before being intercepted by O’Dea’s J. Andre Castillo.

From there on out, O’Dea’s reserves slowly but surely closed out the game. Santi Arbini, William Bain and Elijah Joshua Gines kept the chains moving with strong runs. Bain finished O’Dea’s final scoring drive with a 5-yard touchdown to secure the win, extending O’Dea’s lead to 56-14 as the clock ran out.

After the game, West Seattle head coach Anthony Stordahl said they were really excited to play O’Dea and felt like his guys truly battled.

“We have a ton of positives to take away from this game,” said Stordahl. “Now that we’ve seen what a state championship-level standard looks like, we can work toward it.”

“This loss doesn’t change anything about our trajectory, and we’re looking forward to seeing who we play next week,” added Stordahl.