Redmond players help Eastside Catholic snag football title

Published 10:59 am Friday, December 11, 2015

Redmond’s Harley Kirsch and Ricky Medeiros knew it could be done. The Eastside Catholic football players and their teammates just had to keep plowing ahead, remaining confident all the while that it would eventually happen.

As each second ticked off the clock and each play blasted into action, the Crusaders got closer. And closer.

In the 3A state championship football game on Dec. 4 at the Tacoma Dome, Bellevue led Eastside Catholic 35-14 at halftime and extended its lead to 42-14 with 6:10 left in the third quarter.

And then it happened: Eastside Catholic outscored Bellevue 34-0 down the stretch, earning an improbable 48-42 overtime victory. It was the second consecutive season the Crusaders have defeated the Wolverines in the state title game.

Kirsch, a senior quarterback who threw three touchdowns during the comeback, said it was rough going into halftime so far in the hole, but the team felt it could somehow dig out of it.

“We said we’re gonna do our best, do what we can to get the win,” said Kirsch, who has committed to play next year at Cornell University and compiled a school record-setting 10,000-plus career passing yards. “One of the things that we said was, ‘Wow! That happened.’ Man, that was a crazy night. It was the most exciting and thrilling game I’ve ever played in in high school.”

Added Medeiros, a standout senior offensive lineman and defensive end with about 80 tackles this season: “We played as a family in the second half. There was no doubt in my mind (that we’d lose). We’re not gonna let our family down.”

Medeiros added that Eastside Catholic scored 40-plus points in a half before, so the Crusaders definitely had it in them to derail Bellevue’s lead.

Each Crusader score fired the team up for more.

“We told Harley, ‘Pound another one in, and we’ll (defense) get you another stop. And we’ll do that until the end of the game,’” Medeiros said.

The team also featured fellow Redmond residents senior defensive backs Jimmy Jolliffe and Jakob Jackson, freshman offensive lineman/defensive end Jason Medeiros, sophomore offensive lineman Jackson Reed, junior defensive back and kicker Max Nealon and senior offensive and defensive lineman Jacob Freidberg.

Shaun Scott of the Issaquah/Sammamish Reporter contributed to this report.

Eastside Catholic quarterback and Redmond resident Harley Kirsch fires a pass during the 3A state title game. Courtesy of Rick Edelman/Rick Edelman photography