HS Football: Eastside Catholic Wins On Senior Night Over Rainier Beach

10/26/24

Eastside Catholic Crusaders 49, Rainier Beach 6

(Sammamish, WA) The Eastside Catholic Crusaders came into senior night with a 6-1 record and still had a chance at a share of the Metro League Title if Roosevelt could knock off O’Dea. The Rainier Beach Vikings were looking to spoil the Crusaders senior night and get their record up to 4-4.

In the first quarter, Eastside Catholic had the ball first, and the offense quickly moved down the field where senior quarterback Isaac Corey ran it in from 11 yards out for the game’s first touchdown as the Crusaders took a 7-0 lead just two minutes into the ballgame. After Eastside Catholic forced a Rainier Beach punt, the Crusaders marched down the field again. Corey, this time, looked to pass and found his target down the field, Carson McKelheer, for the 20-yard touchdown as Eastside Catholic had a 14-0 lead halfway through the first quarter.

The Rainier Beach then put together a really good drive, as they took off over seven minutes of the clock and drove 60 yards down the field but were stopped on fourth down. The Vikings’ run game was able to move the ball down the field as the offensive line created lanes for Akeem Murph Jr. to run through and also quarterback Jayden Tyler. After the turnover on downs, Eastside Catholic’s Asa Thompson made a great play for the touchdown. Isaac Corey rolled to his left and fired the ball down the field, where Thompson leaped up into the air, made the catch, and fell into the end zone for a 36-yard touchdown. Eastside Catholic held a 21-0 lead with nine minutes left in the first half.

Later in the second quarter, Eastside Catholic would get a 43-yard touchdown run from Jeremiah Burroughs, who took a handoff, bounced it outside, and outran everyone for the touchdown with 2:30 left in the half. Carson McKelheer got an interception off of a tipped pass and ran it all the way inside the one on about a 30-yard return. Isaac Corey ran it in from the one for another Eastside Catholic touchdown to give the Crusaders a 35-0 lead with just under a minute left in the first half.

In the second half, Rainier Beach had the ball to start the half, but on fourth down, Carson McKelheer came up with his second interception of the game to give Eastside Catholic the ball inside the 25-yard line. The Crusaders scored on the second play of the drive as Jeremiah Burroughs bounced outside again and went up the sideline for a 17-yard touchdown to give Eastside Catholic a 42-0 lead with nine minutes left in the third quarter.

Rainier Beach would put together their most successful drive of the night, going 80 yards in 12 plays, capped off with an 11-yard touchdown run by Akeem Murph Jr. Once again, the offensive line for Rainier Beach created lots of space for Murph Jr. and Vae Lindsay who also ran very well on the drive.

Eastside Catholic got the ball back to begin the fourth quarter and backup quarterback Jabez Fareti led the offense down the field, including a 42-yard pass to Nepo Fareti-Tuato’o. Jabez Fareti scored on a one-yard touchdown run to make it 49-6 with Eastside Catholic leading with five minutes left in the game. Rainier Beach would run the rest of the clock off as Eastside Catholic would get the 49-6 win.

Our elisportsnetwork.com Game MVP went to Eastside Catholic’s Carson McKelheer, who had two interceptions, a receiving touchdown, and came about a foot away from having a pick-six on his first interception on the night. He also did that on his senior night so he earned Game MVP honors, but Jeremiah Burroughs for Eastside Catholic also had a great night with two rushing touchdowns, Isaac Corey had a great night also. Akeem Murph Jr. for Rainier Beach had a great night playing both ways, but his hard running all night was admirable and the same can be said for Vae Lindsay.

Eastside Catholic improves to 7-1 overall and 6-1 in Metro League play as the Crusaders closed out the regular season. Rainier Beach drops to 3-5 on the season and 3-4 in Metro League play.

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