NEW PHOTOS, notes from the Irvine-Portola league showdown

Cameron Goods of Irvine tries to break the tackle of Portola’s Kamran Jahromi. Portola’s Adam Khan (No. 25) and Zephyr Suri also go after Goods. (Photos: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone).

Sometimes, after all the hype and the build-up during the week, a high school football game does not live up to it.

Friday night’s Pacific Hills League Showdown between Irvine and Portola, in front of a big crowd which packed both sides of the Portola stadium, certainly did. With the victory, Irvine captured the coveted Dennis Toohey Fence Post Trophy for the first time since 2013.

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

Irvine staged a fourth-quarter rally to win 21-17 and remain undefeated on the season and earn at least a share of the league title. The Vaqueros (9-0, 2-0) are aiming to cap a perfect regular season when they host Laguna Hills (7-2, 1-1) Friday night at Irvine Stadium. With a win, Irvine can win the outright league title. Laguna Hills is still in the hunt for first place and a playoff berth too.

To read a full game story with lots of photos, please click here.

Some additional notes:

PORTOLA COACH PROUD

Portola Coach Peter Abe described the contest as a “game of inches.”

“It came down to five or six plays,” he said. “But if it goes the other way, we have one or two more touchdowns on the board. You got to capitalize on opportunities when you get them and we didn’t. But hats off to Irvine, they played tough. But I couldn’t be more proud of our guys effort.

“It’s definitely been a long week, but I think our guys definitely did our community proud and they did their families proud and the program proud. I’m so excited for the future of the program to see where we can take this thing because there is so much talent and we got so much support from our community, our parents, our admin and we look forward to seeing this continue to grow.

“This is the fourth year of varsity and we’re already capable of putting up performances like this against the best team in our league.”

VAQS TRY TO REMAIN PERFECT

Irvine is hoping to win the outright league title with a win over Laguna Hills. But if Laguna Hills were to upset Irvine Friday and Dana Hills defeats Portola, three teams would wind up 2-1 and there would be a coin flip to determine the top two automatic qualifiers in the CIF playoffs.

Teams who have .500 records or better can advance as at-large entries.

“We’re going in to look for a win,” said Irvine Coach Tom Ricci. “We’re not backing down, we’re going to play them tough.”

BULLDOGS SECONDARY TOUGH

Portola’s secondary has had some big games and Friday night, the Bulldogs had interceptions by Samuel Sandoval, Kamran Jahromi and Micah Talapatra.

Talapatra’s interception was a 65-yard return for a touchdown which put Portola ahead 10-0.

GOODS GETS SOME ATTENTION

Irvine’s outstanding running back Cameron Goods said one of his goals this season, besides helping his team win the league title, was to get some attention from college coaches.

It looks like he’s getting that as Goods confirmed after Friday’s game he’s been offered to play at Whittier College.

“I got an offer from Whittier, I’m happy, I got my first one,” Goods said.

PORTOLA CAN STILL ADVANCE

Abe, Portola coach, pointed out the Bulldogs (7-2, 0-2) can still advance to the CIF playoffs. He’s hoping his team can defeat Dana Hills and Irvine can top Laguna Hills which would leave Portola, Dana Hills and Laguna Hills tied for second place. A three-way coin flip would determine the second automatic CIF berth.

Portola, Dana Hills (7-2, 1-1) and Laguna Hills (7-2, 1-1) could advance as at-large teams with better than .500 records if they don’t earn one of the top two spots.

For more photos from Friday’s game, please click here.

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