After committing 22 penalties last week in a win, the Fighting Irish had zero to beat the Cougars 28-3.
Of all the stats tabulated for O’Dea on Saturday night, the players’ favorite was the zero penalties.
The week leading up to a big matchup against No. 7 Bothell will be remembered by No. 2 O’Dea for all of the conditioning the Irish did despite a win against Bethel in Week 2. That’s because of the 22 penalties issued to O’Dea in the game.
“They were bonehead,” Irish senior quarterback Emonte Scott said after reviewing the game film. “And we definitely did the conditioning to get back in line.”
Beginning with the strength of its linemen, O’Dea responded with a near-perfect game against Class 4A Bothell to collect a 28-3 win at Pop Keeney Stadium. The reigning Class 3A state champs closed nonleague play undefeated at 3-0 and will open Metro League competition against Bishop Blanchet (2-1) on Friday.
Most Read Sports Stories
“In the first half, there were times where we didn’t play physical enough to match them,” Bothell coach Tom Bainter said. “What a great lesson for us. Hopefully we can improve this week.”
O’Dea used solid defensive play to spark its offensive drives. It’s first score, a 9-yard run by sophomore Kevin Powell, was after the Irish got good field positioning from a sack on Bothell quarterback Erik Bainter, the coach’s son.
The Irish scored again with 2:29 left in the first quarter, getting the ball by forcing the Cougars (2-1) to punt.
In the second quarter, senior lineman Alexx Schmidt stood Bothell junior Colin Fisherkeller up at the line of scrimmage, turning the ball over on downs. With the ensuing good spot at the 37-yard line, O’Dea only needed five plays to get in the end zone. Senior Mark Tafia carried the 2-yard touchdown run to give the Irish a 21-0 lead with 2:10 left in the opening half.
Bothell’s last chance to get on the board before halftime ended with Bainter throwing an interception into the hands of Scott.
“It started in practice when we scouted their offense,” Schmidt said. “We knew where the ball was going, so we went straight to the ball and the defense attacked. But there were most definitely nerves coming into this game. We knew we had to be on our A-game and everybody had to be disciplined because we made a lot of mistakes last week.”
O’Dea opened the second half with a fumble that Bothell senior Mason Locknane recovered. But an eight-play drive ended in the red zone when Bainter threw an incomplete pass on fourth down at the 20-yard line.
Bothell didn’t score until Locknane nailed a 40-yard field goal with 4:30 remaining in the third quarter.
Scott closed out the scoring with a quarterback sneak at the 1-yard line for a touchdown to give O’Dea a 28-3 lead with 10:44 left in the game. He handed the ball off to seven different rushers. Sophomore Tajj Dyles had a team-leading 83 yards on eight carries.
“I wouldn’t say that we threatened them about personal fouls, but we made sure they understood that it’s not going to be tolerated,” O’Dea coach Monte Kohler said. “We rose to the occasion and played hard. Hopefully it’ll continue.”