Preview: Undefeated O’Dea takes on undefeated Mercer Island

This Saturday, November 15th, at 5pm an undefeated O’Dea (9-0) takes on an undefeated Mercer Island (10-0) in a greatly anticipated playoff matchup.

O’Dea finished top in the Metro Conference and are taking the No. 2 seed in the state playoffs. Their team is led by a great defense as well as a run heavy run offense. The O’Dea defense has highly recruited athletes all over the field and 1st team all-conference winners. Big time players include Sage Salopek, Fau Siale, and David Schwerzel that should help pave the way for them to be victorious.

The Fighting Irish blew out Liberty 45-7 in the first round of playoffs to help advance to the second round. Liberty who finished 3-7 this season had their season cut early. O’Dea now with even more momentum still stay undefeated and will move on farther in the state playoffs.

As for Mercer Island they finished top in the King Co. 3A Conference and have the No. 15 seed in the state playoffs. Mercer Island is led by a heavy pass offense with a great defense to back it up. Leading this powerful offense is Youngmin Lee who has thrown for 40 touchdowns for 4,000 yards this season. His leading receiver is Elan Gotel who averages 97.3 yards per game.

Mercer Island who faced off in a close matchup against Kelso and won 40-30. This was a great win for Mercer Island as Kelso had finished second in their conference and had a 7-3 record.

With both teams wanting to continue with their undefeated season, only one can make it out. Both teams are powerful on both sides of the ball. O’Dea are the favorites for this game, but both teams have been successful, so this game has a potential to go both ways.