FOOTBALL NOTES: Portola’s opener, PCL favorite and so-long double wing

A look at Portola’s first varsity football team in front of the home bleachers at Portola. The team’s first game is against Fairmont Prep at 7 p.m.

After weeks of preparation the high school football season is just about here for many Orange County squads.

OC Sports Zone is celebrating the start of the season with our series of previews on local squads. Now, we’re looking forward to providing our readers with game coverage Friday night. We will be at three zero week games on Friday night and providing reports of others.

To see the slide show, please click on the first photo.

We welcome team representatives from throughout the county to send us photos which can include fan shots and action shots. We will give credit to the photographers. Please email your pictures to editor Tim Burt: timburt@ocsportszone.com Friday and Saturday and include first and last names of those photographed. What we don’t post Friday, will be posted on Saturday.

PORTOLA FOOTBALL OPENS UP VARSITY PLAY

Portola is about to open its first varsity football season under Coach Peter Abe. The Bulldogs host Fairmont Prep Friday at 7 p.m. at Portola.

School isn’t in session yet for Portola and the other Irvine Unified School District schools. So it’s tough to predict what kind of a turnout there will be.

Abe said there will “nothing super special before the game.” He points out it will be the first varsity game for all the folks at Portola, so others, besides the players, will be tested.

BULLDOGS QUARTERBACK READY FOR OPENER

Portola quarterback Brandon Yue, a 5-8 junior, is excited about the opener.

Yue and his teammates played a junior varsity schedule last year.

“It was fun; we actually didn’t do that bad for our second year as a program,” Yue said. “Hopefully, we do better this year.”

Yue said the Bulldogs haven’t set any team goals yet and they’re also looking forward to competing in the Pacific Coast League.

“We just want to take it one game at a time and we will see how it goes,” he said. “It’s going to be fun because I know some of the guys at other schools so it will be fun playing with them.”

Yue said Coach Abe has given the Bulldogs advice this summer.

“It’s been about tempo and keeping the energy up,” he said. “There have been hot days and some days you don’t want to practice because of double days but you have to fight through it and the results will show.”

Yue, who is entering his fourth year of competitive football, added:

“I just want to win, that’s the main goal.”

WOODBRIDGE LOOKS LIKE LEAGUE FAVORITE

The pre-season pick to win the Pacific Coast League looks like the Woodbridge Warriors. Woodbridge finished second to league champion Corona del Mar last year and played the Sea Kings the closest of any team. A number of players are back from that team.

Irvine has talented quarterback Marc Filia returning and is coming off a 6-4 year so the Vaqueros could make a run. So could University, with new coach Scott Meyer, who knows what it takes to win.

“They’ve (Woodbridge) been the next best team in the PCL,” said Irvine Coach Erik Terry. “I think they’ve established that. The rest of us have kind of battled for third and fourth. We’ve gone everywhere from second to last in the nine years that Corona del Mar has been in.”

With CdM out of the league and off to the Sunset League, there should be some much closer games and a few upsets this year.

TUSTIN AND FOOTHILL ON THE ROAD

Tustin and Foothill football teams are both on the road this week. Tustin is at Capistrano Valley and Foothill is at Dos Pueblos. The two meet next week at Tustin in the rivalry game which always attracts a big crowd.

Foothill Coach Doug Case really believes that Tustin Coach Myron Miller will say so-long to the double wing and go with the pro style offense.

“He brought in some of his old players and they’ve been running the spread offense,” Case said. “I think they will be effective at it. They’ve also had great skills guys and great linemen, so it’s going to be a new challenge for us.”