University quarterback Thomas Keeling celebrates after his team’s victory over Portola.
(Photos by Fernando M. Donado / For OC Sports Zone)
University’s football team rallied in the fourth quarter Friday night to defeat Portola 28-16 in a Pacific Coast League game behind senior quarterback Thomas Keeling, who scored the go-ahead touchdown for the Trojans.
To see the slide show, please click on the first photo.
“It was a great team win all-around, offense, defense and special teams, everybody was contributing,” said Keeling. “It feels good to get a win, especially in league and we’re going to use this to get momentum for the rest of the league. We’re really looking forward to the next three games. We’re going to hope to win out and try and make a run at CIF.”
University trailed 16-7 early in the third quarter after Bulldogs kicker Kaveh Wojtowich made a 34 yard field goal.
The Trojans were able to make a game of it after scoring with 2:33 to go in the third quarter.
Then Keeling scored on a bootleg to give the Trojans the 21-16 lead with 7:43 remaining the fourth quarter.
“I was thinking I was going to be open, we’ve run it before down here,” he said. “I was expecting to get into the end zone and it’s great to make that score to put us ahead.”
Portola attempted to get back in the game with short runs from quarterback Brandon Yue, and key receptions from the Bulldogs receiving corp, but their drives were not consistent enough and sputtered whenever they got into the Trojan side of the football field.
With less than two minutes to go in the contest, University sealed the victory when junior running back Branton Lucas broke tackles to escape on a 45 yard touchdown run.
University Coach Scott Meyer was also pleased with the victory, which was the first on the field win. University (2-5, 1-1) was awarded a forfeit win earlier in the year when Laguna Hills was ruled to have used an ineligible player.
“It’s been a long time coming for these guys,” Meyer said. “They’ve stayed together and continued to work hard. It’s just a great effort on both sides of the ball. I’m just really, really happy for the guys. In the first half, they hit a couple big plays. They scored right before the half and had the momentum but we came out in the second half and in the first drive, we ran the ball. We really got our run game going in the second half.”
Eddie Castillo rushed for 150 yards on 21 carries, Branton Lucas rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns and Keeling two times for 57 yards and two touchdowns.
Meyer said he was confident the Trojans could come back in the fourth quarter.
“I still felt comfortable we could score some points on them,” he said. “I don’t think anyone on the sideline doubted we could come back and get the win.”
Coach Peter Abe’s Portola team fell to 2-5 overall and 0-2 in league.
-Fernando M. Donado, for OC Sports Zone
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