By Karrington Kincaid, The Seattle Medium
The Eastside Catholic Crusaders mounted an unbelievable fourth-quarter comeback against the Roosevelt Roughriders, which saw them erase a 19-point deficit to pull off a 27-26 victory in the game’s closing minutes.
The first quarter started off with a complete bang as Roosevelt’s running back, Zaire Griffin, led the charge with a 60-yard touchdown run to give his team an early 6-0 lead after the missed extra point. The Crusaders were met with the aggressive defense of the Roughriders. Roosevelt’s Jaymar Tasi made a big tackle for loss on second down, and Pana Tuputala stuffed Eastside Catholic running back Jeremiah Burroughs up the middle as the Roughriders forced the Crusaders to punt on their first possession.
After regaining possession, Griffin continued his dominance by gaining a hard-earned 6 yards to move the chains for the Roughriders. Roosevelt quarterback Dalton Anderson improvised on a scramble for 10 yards to move the chains for his offense on a critical third-down play and later connected with Griffin on a 22-yard pass play to the Crusaders’ 31-yard line. Griffin finished the drive with a 31-yard touchdown run to give Roosevelt a 13-0 lead after a successful extra-point attempt.
Eastside Catholic quarterback Issac Corey tried to rally his team as he led them on a drive to the Roosevelt 32-yard line, which included a 40-yard pass to Carson McKelheer. Unfortunately, the Crusaders came away without any points as they turned the ball over on downs.
On the ensuing offensive drive by Roosevelt, Anderson connected with receiver Cass Bolong-Banks for 19 yards to end the first quarter 13-0, Roosevelt.
In the second quarter, Dalton continued where he left off in the first quarter, connecting with Griffin on a 59-yard touchdown pass to make the score 19-0 after a failed two-point conversion attempt.
Realizing a sense of urgency, the Crusaders had to respond quickly. Relying on the efforts of Burroughs, the Crusaders drove down the field. A couple of self-inflicted penalties on the Roughriders’ defense extended the drive for the Crusaders, which led to a 39-yard touchdown pass from Corey to running back Robert Ingram as the Crusaders scored their first touchdown of the game to close the gap to 19-7.
The momentum for the Crusaders continued as Roosevelt’s Anderson threw an interception on the first play of their next drive to linebacker Liufau Loumoli, setting the Crusaders up with good field position. However, the Crusaders failed to take advantage of the turnover as kicker Connor Brandt missed a field goal attempt, giving the ball back to Roosevelt.
Despite the missed field goal, the Crusaders’ defensive momentum continued as a sack by Tytan McNeal eventually led to a turnover on downs. Offensively, the Crusaders continued to struggle as the half ended with Roosevelt leading 19-7.
The third quarter was a back-and-forth battle that saw both teams move the ball downfield but fail to score any points as both defensive units made big plays to stop any scoring attempts. Despite the scoring struggles, Griffin and Burroughs had a strong quarter running the ball for their respective teams. The momentum of the game shifted in favor of the Roughriders as Anderson connected with receiver Connor Flynn on a 23-yard pass play to end the quarter.
During the fourth quarter, Roosevelt increased their lead to 26-7 after Anderson connected with Jaylen Keller on a 54-yard touchdown pass, which appeared to put the game out of reach.
However, Eastside Catholic responded as Corey, determined to leave everything on the field, connected with Madden Vestman for 21 yards, followed by a 38-yard pass to Asa Thompson that eventually led to a 7-yard touchdown run by Burroughs as the Crusaders closed the deficit to 26-15 after a two-point conversion run by Burroughs.
The Crusaders’ momentum continued as Waswa Lugolobi returned a fumble by Roosevelt’s Griffin 40 yards to the Roughriders’ 10-yard line, which led to a 5-yard touchdown pass from Corey to McKelheer to make the game 26-21.
With 1:21 left in the game, the Crusaders took possession of the ball after a big defensive stop and put together a game-winning drive. Burroughs quickly ignited his team with a 33-yard run as Eastside Catholic methodically moved the ball downfield. With 4 seconds left on the clock, Eastside Catholic running back Nick Jones scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to give the Crusaders a 27-26 victory over the Roughriders after a successful extra-point attempt.
Eastside Catholic Head Coach Dominic Daste was ecstatic about his team’s heart and effort to win the game in such a resilient fashion.
“This is what we harped on all week, just playing [despite what the scoreboard says],” said Daste. “The [final] score is a byproduct of how we play, but it is real when it shows up on the scoreboard.”
The Eastside Catholic Crusaders take on Seattle Prep at home on Friday, October 18th, at 7:00 PM, and the Roosevelt Roughriders take on the Rainier Beach Vikings on the road at Memorial Stadium on Friday, October 18th, at 7:45 PM.
Pictorial Highlights of Eastside Catholic vs Roosevelt
