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By Karrington Kincaid, The Seattle Medium
The chilly conditions of the new October month brought much more hype to both teams going into this Week 5 matchup between Roosevelt and Garfield. Both teams know what they’re going up against and what’s at stake at this point in the season with standings.
Garfield Head Football Coach Curtis Wells Jr. knew how hard his team worked up to this moment as kickoff approached.
“We have a very, very young team. The experience of all the kids being on varsity and not having a JV team has been a good and eye-opening experience,” said Wells prior to the game. “I would just say that Roosevelt is a great team, and we want to be able to compete. I feel like this week we’ll be a lot more prepared competition-wise; we’ll be ready to compete.”
Roosevelt Head Football Coach Sam Adams was optimistic about his team’s chances against Garfield.
“We look good, you know we’ve been ready for a little bit. They’ve been executing very well against the run defense. I think that the kids are ready for the next step… but Garfield is going to be a tough test, they’re always a physical group. They have a new coaching staff, and they have great athletes over there, so we’re going to have to match their athleticism, and we’re going to have to execute to be able to compete with them tonight,” said Adams.
The first quarter of action started off aggressively for the Roughriders as quarterback Dalton Anderson attempted a deep pass to wide receiver Jojo Paaga for a touchdown that ultimately fell incomplete. A couple of plays later, Anderson would dump the ball off to running back Mar Mar King for a 28-yard touchdown that gave the Roughriders an early 7-0 lead.
On the ensuing kickoff, Garfield’s Jmitch Mitchell attempted to take the ball out of the end zone but was upended by the Roosevelt kickoff team at Garfield’s 1-yard line. Roosevelt’s defense would take full advantage of the situation as they forced a safety to take a 9-0 lead.
After a great kick return by Roosevelt’s Zaire Griffin, Anderson would connect with receiver Nolan McWilliams to jump-start the Roughriders’ ensuing drive, which saw King score his second touchdown of the night on a 7-yard run, as Roosevelt increased their lead to 16-0.
Roosevelt’s defensive front, led by Daniel Abdelmalk and Ethan Spencer, completely took the Bulldogs’ offense out of rhythm as they forced another three-and-out to give the ball back to their offense.
Roosevelt would systematically wear down the Garfield defense behind the running efforts of King, which led to a 47-yard touchdown pass from Anderson to McWilliams to give Roosevelt a 22-0 lead after missing the extra point attempt.
Garfield would build some momentum as Joe Heffa would set the Bulldogs’ offense up in Roughrider territory. The play would be followed up by a great carry by running back Steven Davis Baker to the Roosevelt 36-yard line. Quarterback Antoine Williams Jr. would connect with receiver Tariq Shabazz for 21 yards to get closer to the end zone. Unfortunately, Roosevelt’s defense would stop the scoring threat by forcing another turnover on downs.
The Bulldogs would get the ball back quickly as King fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Garfield’s J’Andre Castillo as the first quarter came to an end with Garfield trailing 22-0.
The Roughriders’ defense would continue to make things hard for Garfield, as they forced another three-and-out, while King and the Roosevelt offense continued to move the chains. King would gain 25 yards on two carries, while Zaire Griffin had an 11-yard run to the Vikings’ 14-yard line. Anderson took a big sack from Garfield’s Borges Shama, which gave the defense some hope of stopping the high-powered offense. A penalty on Garfield would assist Roosevelt as they finished the drive with Anderson connecting with Paaga on a 7-yard touchdown pass to make the score 29-0.
The defense of Roosevelt completely swarmed the Bulldogs, with players like Chris Ah-Loe and Ethan Spencer consistently getting tackles for loss, setting up the opponent’s offense in a rough position. The Bulldogs managed to keep fighting on, as Williams connected with Shabazz on a 16-yard pass, which led to a 35-yard field goal, making the game 29-3, Roosevelt.
The Roughriders continued to keep their foot on the gas as Griffin got a 32-yard kick return to set them up at midfield. A few plays later, King scored on a 45-yard touchdown run to make the score 36-3. A muffed punt by the Bulldogs gave the Roughriders another opportunity as Chris Ah-Loe recovered the ball. Griffin immediately scored on a 40-yard touchdown run, making the score 42-3 after the missed extra point to end the half.
The third quarter between both teams would be a stalemate with great defensive play by both teams. The Roughriders put their second-string team in hopes of chewing up the clock to end the game, as the Bulldogs continued to fight for pride. Both defenses got numerous stops on each other, but nonetheless, the biggest play came on a 45-yard run by Garfield’s Jmitch Mitchell to Roosevelt’s 5-yard line to end the quarter with Roosevelt still leading 42-3.
Roosevelt’s defense once again came up big as they kept the Bulldogs out of the end zone, forcing another turnover on downs.
The fourth quarter featured very much the same story as the third, as the Roughriders tried to chew up as much of the clock as they could to end the game by running the ball. Eventually, Griffin broke loose on a 54-yard touchdown run to put the icing on the cake as Roosevelt walked away with a 49-3 win over the Bulldogs.
Roosevelt Head Coach Sam Adams wasn’t pleased with the overall performance of his team but nonetheless knows what needs to be worked on moving forward.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do as people, as a team, as a community. The kids have to come out and understand what this is about, and I was very disappointed in the approach that they took and some of those things that happened, but we’re going to fix it,” said Adams. “We have a group of people we represent, and we have a community that we represent, and if we play like that, that’s a bad representation,” said Adams.
The Roosevelt Roughriders will be at home against the Eastside Catholic Crusaders on Friday, October 11, at 7:45 PM at Memorial Stadium. The Garfield Bulldogs will also be playing at home against the O’Dea Fighting Irish on Friday, October 11, at 5 PM at Memorial Stadium.
Pictorial Highlights of Roosevelt vs Garfield
