Kaveh Wojtowich celebrates with his Portola teammates after the Bulldogs captured the PCL title in October 2019. (File photos: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone)
About a year ago, Kaveh Wojtowich and his Portola High School teammates made history as they celebrated the first Pacific Coast League football title in the school’s history.
The Bulldogs accomplished the feat with a 35-28 victory over Woodbridge on Nov. 1, 2019, capping the team’s second varsity season. Portola also captured the Dennis Toohey Fence Post Trophy, which goes to the top football team in Irvine.
“We knew the senior season was going to be different so when it all came together and we swept the PCL, it really felt like all our hard work came to fruition and everything we said we were going to do, we did and it felt good knowing we were able to get something out of our four years,” he said in an interview earlier this year.
To see the slide show, please click on the first photo
File photo courtesy Portola Athletics
After going 0-5 in league play in 2018, Wojtowich said the Bulldogs were determined to turn the tables in 2019, which they did, going 5-0 en route to the title.
“We knew the senior season was going to be different so when it all came together and we swept the PCL, it really felt like all our hard work came to fruition and everything we said we were going to do we did and it felt good knowing that we were able to get something out of our four years.”
Wojtowich later committed to play for NCAA Division III Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and is preparing for the start of the season, which has been delayed until the spring because of the coronavirus pandemic. Carnegie Mellon is scheduled to start a five-game conference only schedule starting March 19, 2021.
“I’m on-line for the fall but will be on campus and playing football in the spring semester,” Wojtowich said Monday night. He is majoring in mechanical engineering.
The 6-2, 190-pound Wojtowich, who is listed as a wide receiver at Carnegie Mellon, said he is looking forward to the season.
“I’m really excited; they have a great program and a really good coaching staff and I’m really excited to play with them,” he said.
Wojtowich was a a standout wide receiver, defensive back and kicker for Portola and broke his own school records for receptions, receiving touchdowns, interceptions and passes broken up. The Bulldogs star was also a National Football Foundation Scholar Athlete honoree. He also competed in soccer, volleyball and track.
“You name it, he does it,” said Portola Coach Peter Abe. “He’s a jack of all trades and excels at whatever he sets his mind to as a high-character young man.”
Wojtowich wound up earning first team all-league both his junior and senior seasons and was named to the All-Irvine team. After playing on the freshman team in the first year and JV squad the second year, Wojtowich and his teammates moved up to the varsity competition. In 2018, Portola battled but finished 2-8. But in 2019, the Bulldogs wound up 10-2, advancing to the second round of the CIF Division 14 playoffs.
When he first entered Portola, Wojtowich wasn’t even interested in competing in football. But, encouraged by one of his friends to come to camp, he tried out for football and began to enjoy it.
He also met Abe, the head coach, and said his “life just changed.”
“He’s been one of the most influential people in my life. He’s helped me with so much from college recruitment to being a better man to being a better football player and I couldn’t be more thankful for everything he’s done for me and taught me and the position he has put me in today,” he said. “I think a huge part of my recruiting was because of him and he’s always there for me if I need him.
“He really helped me a lot and the relationships I made with my teammates, not just football, but all my sports, and the relationships I built with my coaches and teachers, I really was able to strive at Portola and I don’t think I would be where I am today without the help I received at Portola.
“I think it was really perfect for me in that we could kind of create our own culture and build whatever we wanted and have such good opportunities given to us starting as freshmen because there was no one above us. It was like the whole focus of the school was on us and I really appreciate that and I think that helped me a lot.”
Abe and his players had to be patient and experience growing pains.
The program had some humble beginnings with about 11 players starting out on the freshman level, Wojtowich recalled.
“Most guys had never played any type of football before. I remember the coaches having to keep going over really simple things, like the rules of the game,” Wojtowich said. “It was kind of eye-opening for me. I didn’t realize this many kids didn’t know about football, but I kind of liked watching everyone learn more about the game.
“The first game we played against Foothill we got absolutely destroyed and it was in front of the whole school excited to watch their football team play and a lot of us had not played tackle football before. I remember scoring the first touchdown and we were down like 49-7 when I scored but the crowd went crazy and it was such a great moment even though the score definitely was not in our favor.
“The first year we started bad but we won five of our last six games so we knew there was a bright future coming and in our sophomore year we went 7-3 and we could have easily gone 9-1 if it weren’t for a few injuries and like one mistake in one game. I think from there we kind of knew we had something special coming.”
Wojtowich actually began playing football at the age of 5, playing with his father in the backyard and said he loved watching the NFL.
“Ever since I was little, I followed all the players and knew every player on the (Chicago) Bears roster by the time I was 7, so I loved football, but I never played tackle until high school. I started flag football in the sixth grade when I moved to Irvine because we didn’t have flag football where I lived before,” he said.
The decision to start tackle football turned out to be a solid decision and resulted in many fond memories, including his first varsity game in August 2018. Portola defeated Fairmont Prep 39-20 and Wojtowich scored the Bulldogs first touchdown when he hauled in a 42-yard TD catch from quarterback Brandon Yue.
“I caught a slant and took it, it was 42 yards. I celebrated with my teammates and it felt really good and felt like we really got started with varsity football,” he said.
Academics have also been important for Wojtowich, who had a 4.0 GPA at Portola.
“Academics have always been huge for me and my family,” he said. “I’ve always emphasized academics at a young age. My mom almost didn’t let me play football in the first place because she was worried my grades might drop. Eventually she let me and I’m really thankful for that. But studies have always come first.”
Wojtowich said he has fond memories of his days at Portola.
“I would like to thank every teacher and every coach I’ve had and all my teammates,” he said.
Besides Abe, the coaches who Wojtowich said were instrumental in his career included Portola defensive coordinator Jimmy Welker, receivers coach Anthony Fullman and defensive backs coach Richard Caceres. Head volleyball coach Eric Graham and assistant coach Heidi Martasian also helped him immensely, Wojtowich said.
“I feel like there wasn’t a better school I could have gone to for all four years,” he said.
-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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