By RayJaun Stelly, The Seattle Medium
Coming off a season low 17 points last week, the O’Dea Fighting Irish looked to regroup against a Roosevelt team who was looking for their first win of this season.
In addition to a low scoring night, their defense also allowed 20 plus points for the first time this season. Unusual for an O’Dea defense, who held both Rainier Beach and Seattle Prep scoreless. With that in mind, the Fighting Irish would look to get back to their defensive dominance from opening kickoff of the matchup against the Roughriders.
In the first half, Roosevelt couldn’t contain the defensive line of O’Dea as they were able to get to the quarterback for sacks, force penalties, and allowed little to no yards when Roosevelt’s running backs carried the ball. The Fighting Irish’s secondary was just as impressive, forcing over-throws, incomplete passes and more importantly getting an interception. All things combined, O’Dea forced quick three-and-outs and punts on nearly every Roosevelt possession.
O’Dea’s special teams played a key role in their success during this game with their ability to make Roosevelt’s drives start from inside the 20-yard line each possession. Meanwhile, in the same breath, their kickoff and punt return teams gave their offense great field position, which set them up to score at a rapid pace to put the game out of reach early in the second quarter.
An interception from Fighting Irish defensive back Sage Salopek to start the game, was the beginning of O’Dea’s explosion. Forcing a Roosevelt turnover on their first possession fueled the O’Dea’s offense to strike first, and with a star running back Jason Brown, Jr. leading the way O’Dea managed to do just that. Not having to carry the heavy load like he’s accustomed to, Brown was able to lean on teammates like Christian Winn who helped contribute to the scoring load.
By the time Roosevelt had a chance to settle into the game, O’Dea had scored 28 unanswered points and held a 28-0 lead going into halftime.
During the second half, the Fighting Irish were able to give their reserves some in-game experience, as their veteran players did not play in the second half. However, the Fighting Irish were still able to keep the Roughriders out of the endzone.
Sophomore quarterback Nathan Olmstead would lead the Fighting Irish to the redzone twice putting them in position to kick a successful field goal, and then orchestrating a drive downfield which resulted in him handing the ball off to Davis LeClercq for the game’s final touchdown on a five-yard run.
With the fourth quarter ending, Roosevelt looked to put together a scoring drive but O’Dea’s defense forced three straight incomplete passes to prevent them from putting points on the board, and once the final buzzer sounded off the Fighting Irish were victorious, winning 38-0.
With the win, O’Dea improved their record to 5-1 and handed Roosevelt their sixth loss of the season. The Roughriders will face Bishop Blanchet with the opportunity to get their first win of the year and the Fighting Irish will look to win back-to-back games when they play Ballard next week.
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