Portola takes control in first half on the way to league victory over Woodbridge

Coach Peter Abe talks to his team after Friday’s win over Woodbridge. (PHOTOS: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).

Before capturing the CIF Division 11 title last season, Portola’s football team was 0-5 in non-league play before turning it around with a memorable finish.

Although this year’s team started 2-3, Coach Peter Abe wasn’t sounding the alarm bells and Friday night, he celebrated as the Bulldogs defeated Woodbridge 17-7 in the Omicron League opener at University.

Could the 2025 team be on a similar path toward greatness?

“I don’t know, I don’t want to look in the past,” Abe said after the game. “All we can do is try to get better every week. We challenged these guys to be consistent and execute four quarters. It’s not about the first five weeks, it’s about what we do now, so the idea is to align and assign well, attitude, energy, effort, all that stuff and go out there and execute.

“Obviously, we would always love to have two, three, four plays back, but at the end of the day, the guys stayed together and believed, they were flying around making plays all over the place, that’s what we need. If you want to stay in position to win a league title, you got to be 1-0. Next week, the focus is on Katella.”

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Portola clinched a share of the Dennis Toohey Trophy, which is given to the Irvine football team with the best record against other Irvine teams, according to Abe. Irvine shares the trophy with Northwood and Irvine. The last time three teams shared it was in 1990 when University, Irvine and Woodbridge shared it, Abe added.

Friday night, junior quarterback Orion Suttle led the way, completing 7 of 12 passes for 124 yards, including a 52-yard TD pass to Jamal Abdelkarim in the second quarter that put the Bulldogs ahead 10-0. Ishaan Kedia, an All-CIF placekicker last year, kicked a 39-yard field goal in the first quarter to give Portola a 3-0 lead.

Suttle was also effective on the ground, rushing for 37 yards on five carries, capping the scoring with a 5-yard TD run late in the first half that lifted Portola to a 17-0 halftime lead.

“He’s a dual threat kind of guy who was maybe a little hesitant in the beginning to be that dual threat guy,” Abe said. “

Suttle was pleased with how the Bulldogs (3-3, 1-0) executed.

“Our offense, defense, everything was great,” he said. “It’s a big game, big win, but we just got to take care of business, we got the next four weeks to get to CIF (playoffs).”

Suttle was a back-up quarterback on last year’s CIF championship team and hopes the Bulldogs get another shot at a title.

“That’s the end goal is to go back there,” he said.

Portola also got strong efforts from running backs Timmy Grettenberg (48 yards on 16 carries) and Mayan Kim (51 yards on eight carries). Abdelkarim had three catches for 77 yards.

Portola’s defense, led by linebacker Maxwell Mapstone, the team’s defensive player of the game, was also outstanding against Woodbridge (0-6, 0-1).

The Bulldogs were especially tough against the run, limiting Woodbridge to 69 yards rushing. Woodbridge’s passing game showed signs of improvement, led by freshman quarterback Waylan Stone, who completed 8 of 11 for 118 yards. He also rushed for 31 yards on eight carries.

Stone scored on a quarterback keeper with 21 seconds left to break the shutout. Earlier in the quarter, Woodbridge got the ball following a Portola fumble and marched to the Portola 1-yard line. But Stone was stopped just short of the goal-line on a fourth-and-one trying to score on a keeper.

Kayjahn Pitts had three catches for 32 yards for Woodbridge.

First-year coach Woodbridge Connor McBride was hoping for a better result on homecoming.

“Obviously a disappointment, homecoming, having a lot of fans here and family, my old students and for it to look like that on the scoreboard is obviously a disappointment,” said McBride. “I think we did a lot of great things but there are still some mistakes that we need to fix.

“Waylan is one heck of a player, he’s a freshman, I can only imagine the next couple years. That’s super exciting for me, I think there are some things we need to work on, but I’m proud of my guys. It’s been the whole thing this year, we’ve been plagued by mistakes, we have a lot of talent and hard workers and I have a group of guys who have never given up.”

Stone’s longest pass of the night was a 46-yard toss to Gavin Robley.

Before the game, fans were asked to join in a moment of silence for former Woodbridge football coach Gene Noji, who died on Aug. 14. Noji’s wife, Audrey, was in attendance.

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com