Sophomore Transfer Making the Most of His Opportunity

SEATTLE – O’Dea sophomore cornerback Sage Salopek has had the time of his life playing football for the Fighting Irish. He is a new addition to the school after transferring from Archbishop Murphy High School.

Salopek came into O’Dea wanting to play football for the Irish. He showed off his skills throughout preseason scrimmages. He impressed the coaches early through practices clamping up his team’s best receivers such as Darien Maragh and Andrew Tran.

The Irish’s top cornerback and 4-star recruit Kyan McDonald has helped Salopek a lot. Giving him tips and tricks to push Salopek to the best of his abilities.

“He has helped me a lot, especially with the reads and footwork side of things.”

Coming to the start of the season the coaches placed Salopek at cornerback number 3, so not starting just yet. After the first 2 games he was not starting but dedicated himself to get that starting spot by the next week.

“I needed that starting spot and I was going to do whatever I could to earn that spot.”

And just like that by week 3 Salopek was starting at cornerback with 4-star corner Kyan McDonald on the other side. So far, Salopek has done his job more than the team has expected. As of right now he has 6 interceptions through 9 games.

Going into the playoffs Salopek is very excited, but also has the nerves haunting him before the games. The team plays Peninsula High School this Friday and is looking forward to keeping his side of the field clean all game.

“Playoffs are somewhere I’ve never been before, so nerves come and go but I’m more than excited to have this opportunity.”

He has given this team a lot of hope keeping the ball out of the air. He continues to impress coaches and players each practice/game. He has developed into a star sophomore cornerback and still has 3 years left of his high school career to show off what he can do and hopefully go follow his dreams playing division 1 football.