O'Dea Returns to the State Championship

By Brandon Blake

SEATTLE- The O’Dea Fighting Irish have returned to the state championship for the 2^nd year in a row. After years of coming up short, the Irish finally got over the hump last season and got to the state championship. After losing to Bellevue the year prior in the semifinals, O’Dea got their revenge winning in blowout fashion 38-15. 

This year, O’Dea yet again faced Bellevue in the semifinals and it was now Bellevue who was looking to get back at O’Dea, but the Irish survived. The Wolverines down 20-14 attempted a game winning drive, but junior defensive tackle Tevita Nonu came up with a strip sack to seal the win for the Irish.  

Unlike last year, the Irish have had a much more challenging road to the championship than last year’s team did due to injuries to key players and overconfidence going into the season. 

Junior fullback Max Speller stated, “Our team had issues with contentment thinking we were just going to be handed back the state championship.”

This resulted in the Irish struggling the 1^st month of the season after losing the season opener to Graham-Kapowsin, and beating Rainier Beach and Seattle Prep, despite the games being significantly closer than in years past. The Irish have especially struggled at coming out fast to start games, as they trailed 14-0 early against Seattle Prep, and games like West Seattle and Snohomish, they also started off slow as they were heavily favored in both of those games. 

As result of this, Speller said, “We needed to change that or else we wouldn’t go far in the playoffs, so we had to change our mentality.”

The Irish began coming off the gate fast and have been looking like the team from last year with more dominant wins against teams like Ferndale and Sedro-Woolley. 

Last season, the Irish were a very senior-heavy led team, but this season has a lot of new faces, with lots of young guys and transfers stepping up. People that stand out include freshman QB Allias Moimoi who stepped up early in the season when senior QB Hutton Leverett went down with an injury, and sophomore standout running back J’Shaun Wilson after senior Uriah Stringfield has suffered multiple injuries throughout the season. Wilson has brightly shined even when Stringfield has returned leading the team in rushing with 1115 yards and 15 touchdowns. New transfers especially at the linebacker position have been lights out like junior Adonai Ve’e, sophomore J’Andre Castillo, and senior Timothy Sousou who was playing great but will miss the championship due to a fractured foot. 

Winning back-to-back championships is especially hard, as we’ve recently seen teams like Yelm and Bellevue fail to go back-to-back, after losing in the championship. While it does mean a lot to the players, the Irish know it will not be easy.

Speller stated, “It would mean a lot to him as a player, but he is more focused on winning every single rep as individual rather than the state championship.”  

In order for the Irish to beat Mount Tahoma, Speller said, “We can’t play content, and we need to put it all out on the field, by shutting down the run and keeping our offense moving without turning the ball over.”

The Irish will take on Mount Tahoma on Friday December 5^th at 7pm Husky Stadium.