O'Dea Football Team Advances to Final Four

By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium

Yesterday afternoon, the O’Dea Fighting Irish took on the Sedro-Wooley Cubs in a quarterfinal matchup in the state 3A football playoffs.

O’Dea received the opening kickoff and wasted no time making their presence known on the field.

O’Dea’s Max Speller ran for 6 yards, then J Shaun Wilson broke loose for 19 yards, quickly pushing O’Dea deep down the field. Speller added another 9-yard dash, but back-to-back penalties stalled the drive and set up a 3rd-and-long. On the next play, quarterback Hutton Leverett’s pass was intercepted by Jaxon Silver. However, Silver fumbled the ball, which was recovered by O’Dea’s Wilson at the Kennewick 8-yardline.

O’Dea would immediately capitalized as Speller picked up 4 yards, and then Micah Lazo ran it in from 4 yards out for the game’s opening touchdown. The kick was good, and O’Dea led 7–0 with 8:46 left in the first quarter.

Sedro-Wooley tried to answer, but after a short run and a broken play, their third-down pass fell incomplete, forcing the Cubs to punt.

O’Dea would strike again as Wilson ripped off a 52-yard run, igniting the crowd. Two plays later, Speller practically bulldozed his way into the endzone for a 6-yard touchdown, extending O’Dea’s lead to 14–0 with 5:44 remaining in the opening quarter.

Sedro-Woolley managed to gather themselves on the next drive. After O’Dea was flagged for pass interference, Cliff Tadema connected on a 25-yard pass to Riley Bowen, then he found Tyler Holt for a touchdown, as the Cubs cut the lead in half, 14–7, with 3:24 left.

Sedro-Wooley attempted an onside kick but touched it illegally, giving O’Dea great field position. The Irish would once again quickly take advantage of the miscue, as Wilson ran for 15 yards, Lazo followed with a 17 yard run of his own, Nino Moksivong rushed for 10 yards, and finally, quarterback Allias Moimoi scrambled 7 yards for the touchdown that gave O’Dea a 21-7 lead with 2:07 remaining on the clock.

The Cubs tried to respond, but penalties challenged their drive. On 2nd-and-20, Tadema was sacked and fumbled the ball, which was scooped up and returned by O’Dea’s Keelan Thomas for an 18-yard defensive touchdown. With 49 seconds left in the first quarter, O’Dea led 28-7, and the quarter closed with Sedro-Wooley gaining 7 yards on the kick return.

Sedro-Wooley opened the second quarter with a pass to Briley Eastwood and another to Bowen, but penalties and incompletions forced yet another punt on their 4^th down.

O’Dea took over and started quickly worked their way downfield. Speller ran for 12, Egan for 23, Speller again for 15, and then Prince Witcher powered his way into the endzone from 8 yards out, pushing O’Dea’s lead to 35-7 with 5:26 left in the second quarter.

The Cubs’ next drive went nowhere, and O’Dea immediately answered with another electric play. This time is was a 30-yard touchdown run from Moksivong to make it 42–7 with 3:41 remaining in the first half.

However, Sedro-Woolley wasn’t done fighting. A roughing-the-passer and an unsportsmanlike penalty on O’Dea moved the Cubs deep into Irish territory. Still, O’Dea’s defense held firm until Sedro-Wooley’s offense had a big spark of energy. Tadema found Briley Eastwood for 24 yards, then again for a 3-yard touchdown pass with 30 seconds left. The extra point was blocked by O’Dea’s defensive line, and the score was now 42-13 with under a minute left.

Even with little time left on the clock, O’Dea wasn’t going to let the clock just run out as they entered the half. On the very next series, Leverett’s incompletion set up 2nd-and-10, and Elijah Cabrera took a handoff 49 yards to the endzone, pushing O’Dea’s lead to 49-13 as they entered halftime.

O’Dea kicked to start the second half, and Sedro-Wooley made their way across midfield with the help of short passes and runs. But their drive stalled at the 46-yard line, turning the ball over on downs.

The Irish immediately lit up the crowd and the sidelines again with explosive plays. Peyton Egan chipped in 20 yards, and after a short gain and penalty, Leverett connected with David Schwerzel for 8 yards. On the next play, Moksivong ran untouched for a 22-yard touchdown. With 6:00 remaining in the third quarter, O’Dea led 56-13, triggering a running clock.

Sedro-Wooley punted again on the next drive, and O’Dea closed the third quarter with a completed to Ray Clark III.

With the running clock now in effect, and backups rotating in, the game began to slow down. O’Dea moved the ball with short gains before punting on 4^th down.

Sedro-Wooley had one final burst of energy. Tadema connected with Holt for 11 yards, Durfee chipped away a few yards on the ground, Rochester converted a 3rd down, and with time ticking away, Tadema threw one more deep pass to Rochester for a 34-yard touchdown with 16 seconds left. Sedro-Wooley converted the two-point attempt, and on the next series, O’Dea kneeled out the remaining seconds of the final quarter, securing their 56-21 victory over Sedro-Wooley.

After the game, O’Dea head coach, Monte Kohler, said he was proud of how hard his guys worked, and for punching a ticket to the Final Four.

“I am proud, we worked hard and I enjoyed it,” said Kohler. “It is not easy making it to the final four, but we did it. We still have to be better. We are good enough, but mentally, physically, and socially, we just have to put it all together, and I know we can do it.”

Player Stats

O’Dea:

• Hutton Leverett: 3/4, 13 yards, 1 INT

• William Bain: 1/1, 9 yards

• Allias Moimoi: 1/2, 19 yards

• Max Speller: 6 rushes, 52 yards, 1 TD

• J Shaun Wilson: 3 rushes, 87 yards

• Peyton Egan: 5 rushes, 75 yards, 1 TD

• Elijah Cabrera: 3 rushes, 52 yards, 1 TD

• Nino Moksivong: 3 rushes, 62 yards, 2 TDs

• Prince Witcher: 1 rush, 8 yards, 1 TD

• Allias Moimoi: 1 rush, 7 yards, 1 TD