Irish Advance to 1-0

By Jaxon Foy

SEATTLE- The O'Dea Fighting Irish advance to 1-0 after a dominant win 56-28 against the Roosevelt Roughriders last Friday. Jshaun Wilson leads the Irish with over 250 yards on the ground, on top of 3 touchdowns.

The defending state champions opened their 2026 season against the Roughriders under the lights at Ingram High school. The Metro League matchup is a rare one for the Irish, as this is their first time playing an in-league opponent in 2 years.

The Irish got the score early in the 1st with a 70 yard punt return touchdown from senior Niño Moksivong. The Irish continued the scoring in the 1st quarter as senior fullback Max Speller broke out a rushing touchdown to make the score 14-0.

The Roughriders didn’t take long to respond as quarterback Rece Shewey found wide receiver Owen Poort down the sideline for a 80-yard touchdown to cut the lead in half.

The Irish offense didn’t slow down as junior Jaxon Turner added another score along with J'Shaun Wilson who capped the quarter off with his first of three rushing touchdowns.

The Roosevelt offense wasn’t going down without a fight as Shewey found Poort a second time, this time for 45 yards on a broken coverage and the 1st quarter ends with the Irish leading 28-14.

O'Dea opens the 2nd quarter with sophomore QB Allias Moimoi connecting with sophomore wide receiver Kaydon Tatum with a toe tap touchdown. Later in the 3rd, Wilson takes it 56 yards for his second rushing touchdown of the night.

Down three scores, the Roughriders are looking for an answer and the offense responded as Rece Shewey finds wide reviver Lleyton Cross for another 80 yard touchdown connection to shorten the Irish lead.

The Irish offense was too much to handle as Wilson finds the endzone again for his 3rd touchdown of the night. Speller rushes for another one bringing the score to 56-21. Late in the second half the team rotated out most of their starters. Roosevelt drives down and scores on a short rush with little time left, making the final score 56-28. "Everyone had the opportunity to show what they can do" said junior kicker Alec Petricic after Friday's result. 

The Irish began the season on a high and look to carry this momentum into West Seattle Stadium Friday as they take on Ballard in another Metro League matchup.