Portola was led by quarterback Orion Suttle (far right) along with Jamal Abdelkarim (left) and Blaise Williams. PHOTOS: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).
Portola’s football team fumbled the ball on its first possession of the night against crosstown rival Woodbridge Friday night.
But Peter Abe’s Bulldogs were close to flawless after that, rolling to a 35-7 non-league victory over defending CIF Division 13 champion Woodbridge at University in the season opener both teams.
To see the slide show, click on the first photo:
Portola senior quarterback Orion Suttle was near perfect with just one incompletion in 11 attempts (no interceptions) for 235 yards and three touchdown passes playing early through the third quarter. He helped Portola build a 27-0 halftime lead and the Bulldogs jumped to a 35-0 lead after three quarters.
A running clock was used in the fourth quarter.
“We had to get rid of the nerves a little bit on that first drive,” said Abe who said before the game he thought his team had a lot of offensive weapons. “But very happy with the defensive play, we had a young line and they stepped up and played big time protecting our QB and opening up holes for those running backs, but again you get points on the special teams, points on the ground, points in the air. That was textbook right there.
“The point is can we start the season off right and start fast and strong and align and assign and just play hard. Everything is about getting ourselves better week by week to get ready for league. We got the Kappa League, that’s tough, so many great coached teams. We got to find a way to get better every single week.”
Besides Suttle, other Bulldogs stepped up big as well. Pierson Waters hauled in a 15-yard TD pass from Suttle late in the first quarter. Blaise Williams had two TDs in the second quarter, hauling in a 4-yard TD pass and scoring on an 18-yard TD run.
Portola jumped ahead 28-0 when Jamal Abdelkarim returned a punt 68 yards for a TD on the last play of the second quarter to give the Bulldogs a commanding lead at halftime.
In the third quarter, Carter Nguyen hauled in a 34-yard TD pass and when Woodbridge was called for offsides on the conversion, the Bulldogs went for two to make it 35-0 early in the third quarter.
Abdelkarim was Portola’s leading receiver with four catches for 101 yards.
“We brought a lot of fuel against Woodbridge,” Suttle said. “They’re coming off a CIF championship …. but I think we just shut them down and put them back in their place.”
Suttle said he wants to have a chance to win league and CIF state titles and having talented receivers like Abdelkarim and Williams could help toward those goals.
“They’re special, if one is not getting the ball, the other one is blocking for each other, we’re all just one big team,” Suttle said.
Woodbridge broke the shutout when quarterback Waylon Stone scored on a 1-yard keeper with 4:05 left. Stone was under constant pressure from the Portola line and wound up with 82 yards passing. He was sacked several times and finished with 10 yards rushing.
Woodbridge fumbled the ball away on its opening drive.
“Definitely a bummer, similar feeling to last year, some good things here and there but we killed ourselves tonight, we already talked about Portola and how successful they are they did exactly what they needed to do,” said Woodbridge Coach Connor McBride. “What we showed tonight was not us but if this doesn’t fire up my team to come Monday to work, then I don’t know what to do but I’m excited for the rest of the season.”
Woodbridge lost its opener last year to Calvary Chapel 35-0 and suffered another lopsided loss to Kennedy before getting on track and finishing strong with a CIF title in McBride’s first year as head coach.
McBride knew that there would be challenges for the line and Portola took advantage.
“We knew the line was something we had to be building off, we lost four starters from last year,” he said. “But I still have as much confidence in this group as ever. Back to the drawing boards and we’re going to get better each week.”
Woodbridge’s leading receiver was Joey Coykendall who had four catches for 42 yards.
Portola limited Woodbridge to less than 50 yards rushing.
—-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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