Football Recap: No. 1 Crusaders and No. 3 Irish Coast, Chief Sealth Team to Watch

With the Metro League football season just hitting its stride, historical powerhouses Eastside Catholic, O’Dea, and Garfield all kept pace at the top of the league. Meanwhile, Chief Sealth has quietly put together a 3-0 start to the young season.

No. 1 Eastside Catholic Crusaders (2-1) 55 – 0 Bishop Blanchet Bears (1-2)

The Crusaders’ offense was able to dictate the game early and often, as the hosts jumped out to a massive lead, thanks to the EC passing attack led by quarterback Jake Tiryakioglu.

Crusaders receivers Asa Thompson and Andrew Needham each had multiple touchdowns, with Needham’s 75-yard touchdown reception setting the tone and helping EC jump out to a 14-0 lead early in the first quarter.

Tiryakioglu flourished throughout the first half, finishing the game with an impressive 278 passing yards, four touchdowns, and zero interceptions.

Bishop Blanchet struggled to get anything going on offense, as they finished with just 138 total offensive yards, and going 2-12 on third down. Eastside Catholic looks to continue their run against Metro League teams as they head to 0-3 Lincoln next week, while Bishop Blanchet’s tough schedule stretch endures as they head to No. 22 Garfield.

No. 3 O’Dea Fighting Irish (3-0) 42 – 0 Rainier Beach Vikings (0-3)

O’Dea’s run game continues to be simply unmatched by their opponents as they had 229 rushing yards to Rainier Beach’s four. They also took care of the ball, with only one turnover and three takeaways. The Fighting Irish put on a show at Memorial Stadium, while the Vikings face having already lost as many games as they did last year when they finished 7-3 in the regular season which resulted in a state playoff berth.

They also continue to struggle against O’Dea, as they’ve lost each of their six matchups in the past 7 seasons. The Fighting Irish now head into a 3-game home stand including a titular rivalry matchup between O’Dea and Eastside Catholic under two weeks from now. The Vikings head to Ballard next week as they seek to end their early season losing streak.

Chief Sealth Seahawks (3-0) 3 – 0 Franklin Quakers (0-3)

In what can only be described as the ultimate defensive battle, the Seahawks crept past the Quakers thanks to a lone 2nd-quarter field goal to separate the two Metro League foes.

Even more unusual was the fact that there was a grand total of seven pass yards in this game. Each team had two turnovers, and they combined for a rough 3-19 on third downs.

That said, this game was somewhat out of character for both teams, as in their first two games of the season each team averaged 30+ points per game.

Almost exactly a year to date after their previous matchup in which Franklin won 23-0, the Seahawks managed to survive quite the abnormal game this time around against the Quakers. A win is a win, and with the win this week Chief Sealth has a 3-0 start to their varsity football season for the first time in 20+ seasons!

No. 22 Garfield Bulldogs (2-1) 28 – 19 Seattle Prep Panthers (2-1) – Shaya Victorio

Seattle Prep and Garfield have each not won a Metro League title recently, but they have consistently been names to watch in the Metro League. The last time both of these teams had losing records was half a decade ago, and since then they’ve had a combined record of 39-33-1, meaning that both teams have been mostly solid, but nothing spectacular, with the best season record to come out of that span being just 6-4. Despite their similarities in this sense, they haven’t exactly been a rivalry, with the Bulldogs being 5-1 in their last six matchups against the Panthers. Seattle Prep could hang with Garfield throughout this game due to the stellar play and scrambling of their quarterback Beau Oaksmith, who amounted for the bulk of the Panthers’ rushing game while also throwing for over 120 yards. Despite his play, the Bulldogs were still able to come through with a win, moving both teams to 2-1. View King5 News’ highlight coverage here

Ballard Beavers (2-1) 18 – 14 Lincoln Lynx (0-3) – Shaya Victorio

In a tightly contested game between two teams with nearly identical color schemes, Ballard jumped out to an early lead with a 41-yard touchdown pass and ultimately was able to hold on as their defense grabbed two interceptions. Ballard appears to have drastically improved as a team this season, as they’ve already won the same number of games as they did in all of last season, having finished 2-8. Ballard is seeking to win five or more games this season for the first time since 2019 when they went 9-1 and were ranked as a Top 50 team in Washington by MaxPreps. Next, the Beavers host 0-3 Rainier Beach, while the Lynx host 2-1 Eastside Catholic. View King5 News’ highlight coverage here

Roosevelt Roughriders (2-1) 47 – 7 Lakeside Lions (0-3)

What a start to the season for Roosevelt! The Roughriders are averaging a ridiculous 44 points per game so far, including this 47-point win versus Lakeside, but their defense shined through. Outside of Lions senior wide receiver Connor Kirk (4 rec, 92 yds, 1 TD), Lakeside struggled to get much of anything going on offense, finishing with under 100 passing yards in seventeen attempts. Perhaps most crucially, Roosevelt was able to snatch five interceptions. Along with having those five turnovers, the Lions also failed to convert each of their eight third-down attempts. The defensive performance by Roosevelt was simply one for the books, and they’ll look to keep it up next week as they travel to 0-3 Franklin, while Lakeside will look to right the ship and steal a game against 1-2 Ingraham.

Ingraham Rams (1-2) 28 – 14 Nathan Hale Raiders (0-3) – Shaya Victorio

The Rams defeated the Raiders by a score of 28-14, with the story of Thursday’s matchup between these two teams being turnovers. The Raiders had five offensive turnovers which did not bode well for their chances against the Rams, who did a far better job of taking care of the football, having zero takeaways and a higher 3^rd down conversion rate (33% > 30.7%). Ultimately, their more efficient offense led to a somewhat comfortable conference win for the Rams. Next week, Ingraham looks ahead to a home matchup with 0-3 Lakeside, which with a win would bring them back above a sub-0.500 record. Meanwhile, the Raiders will look to get back on track with a Week 4 bye before also playing Lakeside at home, as they still search for their first win of the season. View Ingraham’s top plays here

Featured Image Credit: Seattle Times