Eastside Catholic bounces back to thump Garfield, 3 takeaways
SAMMAMISH, Wash. - It’s not often the Eastside Catholic football program needs a bounce-back win, because the Crusaders rarely lose.
The third-ranked Eastside Catholic got the winning mojo back even if it came at a slow, methodical pace.
Tyson Weaver scored on a pair of long touchdown catches and Jeremiah Burroughs provided 130 yards and a touchdown as the Crusaders got back in the win column with a 31-10 triumph over sixth-ranked Garfield in a Metro League Mountain Division game on Friday night at Acosta Field.
The win was welcomed by the Crusaders crowd on a night that doubled as the school’s homecoming game and senior night. Eastside Catholic limited the Bulldogs to minus-26 yards rushing and never let their offense get going.
"Coming off a tough loss, I think really we just needed to come together as a team," Weaver said. "Obviously, we weren’t fully there as a unit. We’ve got to play together."
The Crusaders (4-2 overall, 4-2 Metro Mountain Division) bounced back after suffering a 16-7 loss at the hands of their biggest Metro League rival O’Dea last week.
Garfield fell to 4-2 overall and 4-1 in Metro play.
The Eastside Catholic defense limited Garfield to 12 yards overall in the first half and minus-1 yard before intermission.
Finn Terry’s 40-yard field goal with 4:39 to go in the third quarter kept Garfield from getting shut out and cut the Crusaders’ lead to 21-3. Rahshawn Clark returned a kickoff 80 yards for a score with 3.7 seconds remaining in the third quarter to make it 28-10.
Here are three takeaways from the game:
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TYSON WEAVER FLIPS BIG CONTRIBUTIONS
Eastside Catholic standout defensive back Tyson Weaver, who has committed as a cornerback to Washington State University, did his job on defense on Garfield’s bevy of speedy receivers.
But his biggest contributions were on offense. He used his defensive back skills to help him read the defense and it produced two touchdowns on offense as a wide receiver.
“The first one, I saw that [the defensive back] was pressed up on me,” Weaver said. “The speed, I pride myself on that a lot. I knew I had a one-on-one opportunity. It was like a gift from God himself on the first one. On the second one, we turned the ball over before, and I told [quarterback Jake Tiryakioglu] I was going to make a play for him.
“Just trying to play for my team and play for my brothers.”
The 6-foot-2, 195-pound Weaver made two huge catches on offense for 112 yards total as both receptions turned into touchdowns. First, he got wide open in the end zone for 26-yard scoring strike from Jake Tiryakioglu with 31.8 seconds to go in the first quarter.
Then, Weaver turned a short pass over the middle into an 86-yard catch-and-go touchdown down the middle of the field to give the Crusaders a 21-0 lead with 7:28 to go in the third quarter.
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NO HANGOVER FROM O'DEA LOSS
After last week’s tough loss to O’Dea, something had to change for the Eastside Catholic defense.
The Crusaders’ defense was more physical and it showed in the final numbers. Eastside Catholic rendered a high-octane Garfield offense completely ineffective, clamping down to hold the Bulldogs to minus-26 yards rushing - and 38 yards overall.
“It was a really good bounce-back for us,” Burroughs said. “[Garfield] was up against the best defense in the state, to be honest. Every single one of those [defensive players] knows how to play ball.”
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JEREMIAH BURROUGHS BURROWS FOR YARDS
In his first season as the featured running back in the Eastside Catholic backfield, junior Jeremiah Burroughs has endured some starts and stops.
But on Friday, the 5-foot-8, 175-pounder showed he’s ready for the job. Burroughs pounded out 130 yards rushing and a touchdown on 22 carries. Burroughs perfectly complemented the timely passing of Tiryakioglu, who finished with 176 yards passing on 9-of-17 accuracy and two scores
“We were locked in,” Burroughs said after his team rushed for 217 yards and posted 393 yards of total offense. “I knew I had to be locked in and run the way I want. I worked hard in the offseason. It’s a good first year, I’d say.”
Tiryakioglu threw three interceptions, thus needing Burroughs’ work on the ground to move the ball.
Burroughs made it 14-0 Crusaders with a 6-yard touchdown run around right end on a direct snap out of the Wildcat formation with 1:40 remaining in the first half. Burroughs piled up 95 yards on 14 carries before intermission.
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