By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
The O’Dea Fighting Irish closed out the Metro League regular season with a powerful 49-30 victory over the Roosevelt Roughriders Friday night at Memorial Stadium, clinching their second straight league title. The game held high stakes, with O’Dea undefeated and Roosevelt and Eastside Catholic each carrying one loss in league play. A Roosevelt win could have forced a three-way tie at the top, but O’Dea’s decisive performance secured them a perfect league record going into the playoffs.
The game began with Roosevelt in possession and quickly moving the ball with standout plays by Nolan McWilliams and Malaki Davis. Their progress paid off when Mar Mar King punched in the game’s first touchdown, followed by a successful extra point from Zach Miller, putting Roosevelt ahead 7-0.
O’Dea responded immediately, pushing downfield efficiently to set up Zander Turner for a touchdown just before the first quarter ended. Kicker Owen Livingston’s extra point tied the game 7-7.
Early in the second quarter, Roosevelt looked poised to retake the lead after a 51-yard pass put them deep in O’Dea territory. But on a 4th down attempt, O’Dea’s Case Barker came up with a crucial interception to halt Roosevelt’s drive. Taking advantage of the turnover, O’Dea’s Giulio Banchero scored on an 84-yard touchdown reception to give O’Dea a 14-7 lead after an extra point by Livingston.
O’Dea’s defense stepped up from there, forcing Roosevelt to punt on their next possession. O’Dea capitalized on the next drive as Uriah Stringfield cut through the defense for a 25-yard touchdown, extending O’Dea’s lead to 21-7.
Roosevelt began to rally behind the efforts of Zaire Griffin and Kash Lexing, who fought through multiple O’Dea defenders. But O’Dea’s defense came up big with tackles by Prince Witcher and Rasaan Thomas, and a sack by Owen Brustkern, forcing Roosevelt to call a timeout. Re-focused, McWilliams scored on the next drive, but O’Dea blocked the extra-point attempt, keeping the score at 21-13. With seconds remaining in the half, O’Dea ran down the clock and entered halftime with the lead.
O’Dea opened the second half with a statement, as Stringfield took the ball 56 yards to the end zone, boosting the score to 28-13. Roosevelt showed resilience, with McWilliams and King picking up yardage to bring the Roughriders back downfield. Quarterback Dalton Anderson barely avoided a sack, opting to scramble 22 yards to the 11-yard line. King then pushed through O’Dea’s defense for a touchdown, narrowing the score to 28-16.
However, O’Dea countered right away. Stringfield powered down to the 4-yard line, and Leverett drove into the end zone on the next play, extending the lead to 35-16. From there, O’Dea’s defense took over, with Peter Sander and Sioeli Siale recording back-to-back sacks on Roosevelt’s next drive. Roosevelt got close to a touchdown, but a holding penalty took points off the board, and the third quarter ended with O’Dea leading 35-16.
Early in the fourth, McWilliams struck again with a touchdown for Roosevelt, but O’Dea’s Keelan Thomas broke up their two-point conversion attempt, keeping the score at 35-22. O’Dea faced some pressure in their next possession, but their defense stayed strong as Tevita Nonu recorded another sack, and Rasaan Thomas batted down a pass to end Roosevelt’s hopes of a comeback on that drive.
On the following drive, O’Dea advanced to the 24-yard line but was set back by an illegal push penalty. Unfazed, Stringfield broke through for another touchdown, pushing O’Dea’s lead to 42-22 with about half the final quarter remaining. Roosevelt, struggling to find rhythm, threw an interception to Barker on their 4th down attempt. Shortly after, Banchero added another O’Dea touchdown, widening the lead to 49-22.
In the game’s final minute, Roosevelt managed to score again and converted for two points, bringing the score to 49-30. But O’Dea’s defense held strong as Barker broke up multiple deep pass attempts, and Sander delivered a final sack, sealing O’Dea’s 49-30 victory and an undefeated league title.
“Tonight’s game was entertaining for sure,” said O’Dea Head Coach Monte Kohler. “A lot of offense, and not a lot of defense, so we need to do better in the games ahead.”
