Big win for Chief Sealth International High School tonight, but the Seahawks didn’t really run away with it until the last quarter of their 40-24 victory over Ballard at Southwest Athletic Complex. Among those cheering in the stands, members of the Sealth Class of 1968, celebrating their 50-year reunion:

The game started in sunshine, and head coach Ted Rodriguez had reason for a sunny outlook right from the start.

Sealth star #8 Dontae McMillan got his first TD with 7:36 to go in the first quarter. With a two-point conversion, the Seahawks led 8-0, and that held until midway through the second quarter, when the Beavers kicked a field goal. It was 8-3 but not for long.

The teams swapped possession shortly thereafter, with Sealth #6 Jalonie McMillan recovering the ball on a fumbled punt, followed by a Ballard interception, and then a safety adding two points for Sealth, bringing the Seahawks’ lead to 10-3 – until the Beavers had a huge TD run with 2:42 to go in the first half, tying the score 10-10.

The Seahawks answered fast with their own big TD run and went into halftime ahead 16-10.

Ballard briefly took the lead with 3:51 left in the third quarter, 17-16. How briefly? Sealth’s Dontae McMillan scored a TD on the kick return. With the two-point conversion, Sealth was up 24-17 and never looked back. They added two more TD-plus-two sets, starting with this one:

And at just under 7 minutes left in the game, the next 6-plus-2 widened the Sealth lead to 40-17. Ballard managed a TD with :22 left but it was too little, too late, and the Seahawks finished with the 40-24 triumph.

That brings Chief Sealth to 3-2 and puts them atop the Metro League‘s Sound Division. Next Friday at 7 pm, they’re on the road, playing Lakeside at Northwest Athletic Complex.