O'Dea dominates Garfield, captures first undefeated 3A Metro title since 2019, 3 takeaways

Jason Brown Jr. rushes for 231 yards and four touchdowns, and the Fighting Irish defense puts clamps on high-powered Bulldogs' offense

WEST SEATTLE, Wash. - Year in, year out, the O’Dea football program is a model of consistency.

The Irish keep pushing for more - and achieving it.

Jason Brown Jr. ran for 231 yards and four touchdowns, and the second-ranked O’Dea defense stifled ninth-ranked Garfield as the Irish clinched their 28th Metro League regular-season title with a convincing 49-13 triumph Friday night at West Seattle Stadium.

* WEEK 8 WASHINGTON HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD

O’Dea (8-0 overall, 7-0 league) clinched the Metro League Mountain Division crown with the win and put it in the postseason again on "senior night," which doubled as the regular-season finale. The win pushed this squad to the brink of the school’s 31st consecutive state-playoff berth, and 35th overall.

“It’s been a big chip on our shoulder, especially because we haven’t gotten to [be] Metro champs the last two years,” said O’Dea senior offensive lineman Isendre Afhua, a Texas A&M commit. “We were just thinking about that every practice. Our team word is ‘dominate’ so when we came into this game, all we wanted to do was dominate.”

The Irish dominated Garfield (5-3, 5-2) from start to finish to wrap up the program’s first undefeated league/division title since 2019 when the team went 5-0 to capture the Mountain Division. It was the first regular-season league title since the 2020-21 school year when the COVID pandemic pushed the abbreviated season from the fall of 2020 into the spring of 2021.

The O’Dea defense registered seven quarterback sacks and stifled the Bulldogs’ run game, limiting them to minus-36 yards on the ground. The Irish outgained their foes, 367 yards to 102, behind 291 yards rushing.

“I feel like this group is pretty special,” Brown Jr. said. “I feel we have a lot of athletes who can go out there and make plays all over the field. This [Metro title] hits a lot different. To finally achieve it as a group, with guys I’ve grown with, is something special.”

Kyan McDonald got free behind the Garfield secondary for a wide-open 41-yard touchdown pass from Araujo with 44 seconds remaining before halftime and O’Dea’s lead swelled to 35-0.

Next up is a Week 10 state-qualifying game for O’Dea in the round of 32.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

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GARFIELD'S TWO BIG PLAYS NOT ENOUGH

Garfield needed a lot more on each snap on both sides of the ball to beat O’Dea on Friday. The Bulldogs didn’t get that consistency, but their two scores came on big plays.

Garfield ended the shutout when Rahshawn Clark scooped up a Brown Jr. fumble and jetted 85 yards for a return touchdown with 4:39 to go in the third quarter. The Bulldogs still trailed 35-7.

“I thought I was going to hear the whistle, but I just kept going,” Clark said in a conversation with Brown Jr. after the game.

“I thought I was down,” Brown Jr. said.

The Bulldogs also scored with 4:04 remaining in the game as Reylen Witherspoon took a short pass from quarterback EJ Caminong and scooted for a 58-yard touchdown down the right side.

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O'DEA DEFENSIVE FRONT CREATES HAVOC

The pressure the Irish defense put on Caminong all night, especially the front four, never allowed Garfield to get in an offensive rhythm.

O’Dea’s defense made nine tackles for loss, including seven quarterback sacks, to make it a long and mostly miserable night for Caminong.

“The mindset was just go dominate,” Ahfua said of his team’s defensive mentality. “I want to give a big shout-out to Paki Crawford (three sacks). He’s a big factor on our D-line.”

Ahfua is more than happy to spell Crawford if the defensive star needs rest.

“Big Papa will come in and give him a breather, and then let the Big Dog go back in,” Ahfua said with a laugh. “I’m just so proud of our D-line. They’re awesome. They’re spectacular. They’re going to take us to the state (title).”

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BROWN JR KEEPS ADDING TO LEGACY MARKS

Brown Jr., the O’Dea program’s all-time leading rusher, has benefited from the return to health of the 300-pound Ahfua, the team’s big offensive tackle.

Brown has piled up 1,365 yards and 26 touchdowns so far in eight games this season after Friday’s 30-carry, 231-yard performance that included scoring runs of 11, 10 and 38 yards to go with his 50-yard screen pass for a score.

“He definitely makes us (linemen) look good,” Ahfua said of Brown Jr. “We definitely have great blocking assignments and we get to our blocks, and sometimes we might slip up a little bit, but JB’s talent is remarkable. He just makes great plays.”

Brown Jr. leads the O’Dea career ladder with 5,899 yards and 82 touchdowns. Earlier this season, he eclipsed the marks set by 2015 graduate Myles Gaskin (5,065 yards, 75 TDs).

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