By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
The O’Dea Fighting Irish cruised through the first round of the state football 3A playoffs with a 45-7 win over the Liberty Patriots last night at Memorial Stadium.
The game kicked off with Liberty in possession, but O’Dea’s defense forced an early fumble that was recovered by Zander Turner. The Fighting Irish quickly capitalized on the turnover, as running back Uriah Stringfield scored on a 25-yard touchdown run, followed by a successful extra point from Owen Livingston. Liberty quickly found themselves back on defense after another fumble, this time recovered by O’Dea’s Max Speller. Continuing to build off the momentum, Davonn Abaga scored another O’Dea touchdown, bringing the score to 14-0 just minutes into the first quarter.
Throughout the first quarter, O’Dea continued to stifle Liberty’s offense with their relentless defensive pressure, forcing a punt on 4th down as Liberty struggled to advance the ball past midfield. As the defense continued to cause problems for Liberty, the O’Dea offense would add to the lead. Peyton Egan added another touchdown, bringing the score to 21-0. Liberty would turn the ball over on downs, and Egan struck again with his second touchdown, widening the gap to 28-0.
With just 12 seconds left in the first quarter, Sage Salopek found the end zone, extending their lead to 35-0 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Liberty continued to struggle against the O’Dea defensive front. O’Dea would take possession once again. Spinning his way into the end zone, O’Dea’s Luther Hill scored a touchdown to push the Fighting Irish lead to 42-0. Liberty had a brief sign of life as Spencer Bogh hauled in a long catch that brought them to the 16-yard line, but the O’Dea defense held firm, and Liberty was forced to turn over the ball with just minutes left in the half. O’Dea closed the half with a dominant 42-0 lead.
The third quarter flew by, with little action on the field from both teams. However, O’Dea made an 18-yard field goal, extending their lead to 45-0. Liberty continued to fight hard against the Fighting Irish, but O’Dea’s defense remained dominant, and the quarter ended with a commanding 45-0 lead.
Despite the score, Liberty was still very alert on the field, giving their all to put a stop to O’Dea’s running attack. Bogh made a big tackle against O’Dea. Shortly after, Liberty would recover an O’Dea fumble, which led to a 68-yard touchdown run by Ethan Su, and a successful extra point attempt by Freddy Peitl would bring the score to 45-7 with 8:00 minutes left in the game.
O’Dea’s offense, continuing to shine, was slowed down a little bit as the reserve players took the field in the final quarter. But the Fighting Irish still held strong and didn’t allow Liberty to get near the end zone. With a running clock, the game wound down with the Fighting Irish securing a 45-7 victory over Liberty to advance to the next round of the state 3A playoffs.
Following the big win, O’Dea’s Head Football Coach Monte Kohler was proud of his team’s effort as they look forward to their next playoff matchup.
“We kept them to seven points, so we will take that,” said Kohler after the game. “The boys did a nice job tonight, so it was a fun game.”
