O’Dea Beats Lincoln and is Headed to the 3A State Semifinals!
The Fighting Irish beat the Abes 28-20 in the quarterfinals as Lincoln ends the season as it began — with a loss to O’Dea.
Article written by: Seattle Times Staff
No. 1 O’Dea bent but did all it could not to break in its Class 3A state quarterfinal matchup against No. 9 Lincoln on Friday night.
The undefeated Irish held off Lincoln’s fourth-quarter comeback to earn a 28-20 victory at Memorial Stadium. O’Dea (13-0) will advance to face Meadowdale (10-2) in the state semifinals next weekend.
“The defense stepped up and made some plays there,” O’Dea coach Monte Kohler said. “That was fun. It was a great high-school football game.”
After trailing 21-7 entering the final quarter, the Abes (9-3) had a chance to tie the score after gaining possession with 3:53 remaining. Lincoln quickly moved into O’Dea territory as quarterback Joey Sinclair found Tristan Kwon for 17 yards to the Irish 31. But the next four plays were incompletions for Sinclair, and the Irish ran out the final 3:10 to seal the victory.
Junior running back Jamyn Patu put the finishing touches on the Abes, ripping off an 18-yard rush to set up a kneel by quarterback Ben Beale, running out the clock.
Patu carried the ball 31 times, 22 of which came in the final two quarters, for 255 yards and scored both second-half touchdowns for the Irish.
“He was great,” Kohler said. “He just did what he had to do. We had a number of running backs, but he was the hot guy tonight, so that was fun to go with.”
Beale ended the night under center but started the game on the bench, replacing starter Warren King in the second quarter. King left the game with an injured hip after being sacked on a fourth-and-12 play, and his status for the remainder of the season is uncertain.
After a three-and-out stalled Beale’s first drive on the field, the senior tossed a 13-yard touchdown pass to tight end Sam Sanchez on O’Dea’s ensuing drive to give the Irish a 14-7 lead into halftime
Beale began the season as O’Dea’s starter, leading the Irish to a 31-14 victory over Lincoln in the season opener, but he was injured in the second game of the season and hadn’t played until Friday night.
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