By Karrington Kincaid, The Seattle Medium
A marvelous matchup took place between the O’Dea Fighting Irish and the Seattle Prep Panthers at West Seattle Stadium. The stadium was pumped with rowdy fans, ready to watch their teams go to battle in this interesting matchup.
The first play of the game ended disastrously for O’Dea, as quarterback Allias Moimoi fumbled the football, which was recovered by Seattle Prep’s Miller Kavanaugh, giving the Panthers the ball deep in O’Dea territory. The mistake became costly, as Panthers quarterback Leo Harnetiaux connected with wide receiver Ben Cunningham for a 15-yard touchdown pass to give Seattle Prep an early 7-0 lead.
O’Dea received the ball for the second drive of the game and employed a heavy ground attack led by Peyton Egan as they sliced through the first and second levels of the Panthers’ defense. Unfortunately, that effort was all for nothing, as a few plays later, Moimoi fumbled again. This time, the ball was recovered by Seattle Prep’s Sam Davidson, once again setting the Panthers up with great field position.
Harnetiaux quickly took advantage of the miscue by connecting with wide receiver Win Chandler on a 37-yard pass to give the Panthers a first-and-goal at the 3-yard line. Harnetiaux finished the drive with a 1-yard scamper into the end zone, as Seattle Prep took a 14-0 lead over the Fighting Irish to end the first quarter.
The Fighting Irish regained momentum in the second quarter as they continued to run the ball effectively. Despite being 5’6″ and 160 pounds, O’Dea running back J’Shaun Wilson made his presence known with his breakaway speed, picking up 17 and 15 yards on back-to-back runs to get his team down to the Seattle Prep 5-yard line.
Moimoi connected with Evan Prokop on a 3-yard pass to set up a 2-yard quarterback sneak as O’Dea scored its first touchdown of the game. However, O’Dea’s two-point conversion attempt was stuffed by the Panthers’ defense, who forced another fumble by Moimoi, as the Fighting Irish closed the gap to 14-6.
After a stalled Panther possession, the Fighting Irish continued to show resilience as J’Shaun Wilson scored on a 45-yard touchdown run. This time, the two-point attempt was successful as Moimoi connected with Giulio Banchero on a pass to tie the game at 14-14.
Both teams traded possessions and stood strong defensively, but O’Dea’s defense came up big, forcing a Harnetiaux fumble that was recovered by Keelan Thomas. The Fighting Irish closed out the half with Moimoi connecting with David Schwerzel on a 22-yard touchdown pass to take a 21-14 lead into halftime.
The second half belonged to O’Dea as they scored 18 unanswered points while their defense continued to cause problems for the Seattle Prep offense. Peyton Egan led O’Dea’s ground attack as the Fighting Irish wore down the Panthers’ defense. Fullback Max Speller got in on the action with a 19-yard run to set up his team deep in Seattle Prep territory. Owen Brustkern and Moimoi powered through tough yardage to earn a first-and-goal before Wilson scored his second touchdown of the game on a 2-yard run. A fumbled snap on the extra-point attempt kept the score at 27-14, with O’Dea firmly in control.
On the next drive, Seattle Prep showed resilience as Harnetiaux got the ball to his playmakers, including Win Chandler and Beckett Archer. But the drive eventually stalled when Harnetiaux threw an incomplete pass on fourth down, turning the ball over to O’Dea.
O’Dea capitalized on the turnover as running back Chrystian Ervin scored on a 13-yard run, increasing the lead to 33-14 after another unsuccessful extra-point attempt.
As the fourth quarter began, Seattle Prep made a final push to get back in the game. But those hopes ended as cornerback Nino Moksivong intercepted a Harnetiaux pass, once again giving O’Dea great field position. The Fighting Irish closed out the game with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Moimoi to Schwerzel to secure a 39-14 victory.
Although he saw a strong performance by his team, O’Dea’s Monte Kohler said there’s still plenty of room for improvement.
“Each snap, the younger players get a little bit better. If we eliminate penalties, mistakes and turnovers, we’ve got a chance to be a good football team,” said Kohler after the game.
Despite the loss, Seattle Prep Head Coach Aaron Maul was encouraged by his team’s resilience and heart throughout the game, despite the overall physicality of O’Dea.
“We kinda knew [it was going to be a physical game] going into it,” said Maul. “Every opportunity we get is going to be a really physical contest. The challenge is, can you meet that physicality, and so we encourage our kids to match the physicality and stay in that fight no matter what.”
Next week, the Fighting Irish take on the Eastside Catholic Crusaders at West Seattle Stadium on Friday, September 26, at 7:00 p.m. The Seattle Prep Panthers will go on the road to face Bishop Blanchet on Friday, September 26, at 7:00 p.m.
Pictorial Highlights O’Dea vs Seattle Prep
Photos/Von’Rico O’Neal
