The O’Dea Fighting Irish improved to 7-0, 6-0 in Metro, with a 55-21 victory over Ballard Friday night.
The Fightin Irish scored quickly and often as they appear to be peaking just in time to make a strong push in the playoffs.
O’Dea’s Ryan Phillips returned the opening kickoff to the Ballard 18-yard line to set up an 18-yard touchdown run by Quinn White, as the Fighting Irish took a 7-0 lead just 19 seconds into the first quarter.
After a strong defensive effort, O’Dea would get the ball back, and Jason Brown, Jr. would score on an 18-yard touchdown run of his own with 9:52 left in the first quarter. The Irish would then go on to build a 21-0 first-quarter lead after an 18-yard touchdown run by Brown.
O’Dea would keep their foot on the gas during the second quarter as quarterback Antone Araujo would connect with Kyan McDonald on a 25-yard touchdown pass just 10 seconds into the quarter to increase their lead to 28-0.
Ballard would attempt to get back into the game, as quarterback Joe Farley would connect with Dominic Hayes on a deep pass play to give Ballard a first down at the O’Dea 20-yard line. However, two plays later, O’Dea’s Sage Salopek intercepted a pass in the end zone to end the scoring threat.
O’Dea would march down the field, and then on a 3rd and 7 play from the Ballard 20-yard line, fullback Malik Dawson would run for 14 yards to set up a 6-yard touchdown run by Brown for his third touchdown of the day.
O’Dea’s special teams would get in on the action as they blocked a punt that was recovered by the Fighting Irish at the Ballard 20-yard line. On the very next play, Brown scored his fourth touchdown of the day on a 20-yard run.
O’Dea’s Peter Pauly would get an interception that would set up a touchdown run by Lucas Hercules Cruz to give O’Dea a 49-0 lead heading into halftime.
Ballard would finally get on the scoreboard with 3:23 left in the third quarter to cut O’Dea’s lead to 49-7.
O’Dea would go on to win the game 55-21, and now set their sights on a matchup with the Garfield Bulldogs next Friday at West Seattle Stadium.
O’Dea’s Jason Brown, Jr. finished the game with 11 carries for 139 yards and four touchdowns.
