By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
Last night, the West Seattle Wildcats improved their record to 5-0 in the Metro League (6-0 Overall), with a 58-6 victory over the Ingraham Rams.
The game started with West Seattle kicking off, and their defense immediately made an impact. After a short Ingraham gain and a penalty, quarterback Mac Faw’s pass was intercepted by Ford Fitterer, changing possessions immediately. West Seattle took advantage of the opportunity right away as quarterback Desmond Parkinson found Aidan Croppi downfield for a 55-yard touchdown pass, as the Wildcats took a 7–0 lead with 9:53 left in the first quarter.
On the following possession, Ingraham fumbled a punt return, that was recovered by the Wildcats. Parkinson got right back to work, as he picked up 14 rushing yards, before connecting with Elliott O’Neill on a 16-yard touchdown pass, as West Seattle quickly built a 14-0 first quarter lead.
Ingraham, who was still giving it their all, put together a few positive plays with runs from Adrian Dalton, Logan Rudell and Faw. But a series of penalties and a sack by Fitterer stopped their momentum, as they were forced to punt on 4th down.
The Wildcats regained possession, and even though their drive eventually was stopped by the Rams, it wasn’t long before they were back in control. After forcing another Ingraham punt, Parkinson led an excellent drive, including passes to LJ Moody and Jesse Hansen-Wilson, and topped it off with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Moody, as the Wildcats stretched their lead to 21–0 with 5:17 remaining in the half.
Ingraham continued to struggle offensively, and after another short drive, Parkinson made his presence known again. With a pass for a short gain to Croppi, and a 59-yard touchdown pass to Moody, West Seattle held a commanding 28-0 lead with under two minutes remaining in the half.
On the very next Ingraham drive, Faw was sacked again by Fitterer, who turned around and intercepted a pass by Faw returning it for a 15-yard touchdown. After another extra point, the score was suddenly 35–0.
Ingraham finally showed some signs of life when Rudell broke free for a 65-yard touchdown run, but West Seattle blocked the extra point, making the score at 35–6.
With only seconds left in the half, Parkinson found Breck Estep for 19 yards, then threw a perfect pass to Grady Scheff for a 55-yard touchdown with just seconds remaining, as the Wildcats went into the half with a comfortable 41–6 lead.
The second half began with Parkinson once again leading a steady drive, completing passes to Logan Imel and multiple handoffs to David Contreras and Hansen-Wilson, but the drive stalled after a missed 35-yard field goal.
Ingraham’s next possession went by quickly, and they seemingly instantly were forced to punt. Following the punt, Moody once again made a game-changing play, as he returned the punt 50 yards for a touchdown, pushing the score to 49–6 halfway through the third quarter.
Later on in the third quarter, Ingraham turned the ball over on downs, giving West Seattle the ball back rather quickly. Even though Parkinson’s next drive ended in a fumble that was recovered by Ingraham, the Wildcats’ defense responded with a safety, adding two more points and increasing their lead to 51–6.
As the time was ticking away due to a running clock, West Seattle closed out the scoring with another methodical drive. Parkinson found Esayas Brigham on a short pass, and later, backup QB Carlos Patino connected with Brigham for a 21-yard touchdown pass, as West Seattle increased their lead to 58–6.
As the game was coming to an end, Ingraham’s final attempts to fight back were ultimately stopped with a sack by Savion Ware that ended their last possession. West Seattle then kneeled the ball in the final minutes to seal a 58-6 victory over Ingraham.
After the game, West Seattle head coach Anthony Stordahl said he challenged his guys this week to do something that hasn’t happened often at West Seattle, and that was move from the lower division to the upper division of the Metro League.
“Our goal this season was to move to the upper division, and with the win, we accomplished it. We scored in all three phases of the game tonight, and everyone contributed. This was, without question, our most complete game of the season,” said Stordahl.
“However, most of our goals are still ahead of us,” continued Stordahl. “We need to win next week against Nathan Hale to have a chance at the playoffs. Despite winning by such a big margin, there are still things that we need to clean up, and we’ll get back to work this weekend.”
Player Statistics
West Seattle (Offense):
Desmond Parkinson: 3 rushes, 25 yards; 11/16 passing, 239 yards, 5 TDs
LJ Moody: 2 rushes, 5 yards; 3 receptions, 73 yards, 2 TDs
Aidan Croppi: 2 receptions, 56 yards, 1 TD
Elliott O’Neill: 1 reception, 16 yards, 1 TD
Grady Scheff: 1 reception, 55 yards, 1 TD
Esayas Brigham: 2 receptions, 25 yards, 1 TD
Carlos Patino: 1/1 passing, 21 yards, 1 TD
West Seattle (Defense & Special Teams):
Ford Fitterer: 1 sack, 2 INTs (1 returned for TD)
Savion Ware: 1 sack
LJ Moody: 1 punt return TD (~50 yards)
Team Defense: 1 safety
Ingraham (Offense):
Mac Faw: 6 rushes, 30 yards; 2/6 passing, 0 yards, 2 INTs
Desmond Walrond: 3 rushes, 5 yards; 1/2 passing, 36 yards, 1 INT
Logan Rudell: 6 rushes, 95 yards, 1 TD
Ingraham (Defense):
Maurice McCray Jr.: 1 tackle for loss
Omir Thomas: 1 tackle for loss
Team Defense: 1 fumble recovery
Photos/Tyler Artis
