Portola players including No. 8 Timmy Grettenberg, celebrate after winning the CIF Division 11 title. (PHOTOS: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone).
Portola High School’s football players were sick of losing after dropping the first five games of the 2024 season.
The Bulldogs certainly don’t have that feeling any longer.
Friday night, Portola capped a remarkable turn-around, defeating El Rancho 31-14 in the CIF Division 11 final Friday night. The Bulldogs came away with a CIF title in their first time to the final in the seven-year history of the varsity program and were able to celebrate in front of their home fans.
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Portola had considerable success during its resurgence in the second half and into the CIF playoffs. But Friday night, the Bulldogs again mixed in some big pass plays and the plan worked.
Third-seeded El Rancho (9-5) was trying to bring home the fourth CIF title for the program.
“That has a great ring to it doesn’t it?,” Abe said when asked how it felt to be a CIF champion. “I’m just proud, the work we put in, and being able to get the job done. It’s always the goal to play in these big games, not only can we get to the game, but actually get here and play well, very fired up.”
Portola (8-6) is expected to advance into the CIF Southern Regional next week. Pairings will be announced Sunday.
Quarterback Nash Luper led the Bulldogs, completing 8 of 13 passes for 165 yards and two touchdown passes. After Ishaan Kedia made a 40-yard field goal in the first quarter to give the Bulldogs an early lead, Luper hooked up with Anthony Riccardi on a 27-yard TD pass to make it 10-0.
Late in the third quarter, Luper hit Malachi Moore on a 28-yard TD pass to put the Bulldogs ahead 24-7.
“First and foremost I want to give thanks to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ because I’m so grateful He allowed me to be in this opportunity, I can work as hard as I can want, but at the end of the day, it’s up to Him what happens in the end and I’m super blessed to be able to come out here with a W,” Luper said.
Luper said there wasn’t a specific plan going into the game to pass more.
“It kind of just worked out that way,” he said. “For most of the games this season, we’ve mostly been a run first offense, that was the plan for this week as well, but I think I was pretty hot tonight so we just kept throwing.”
The touchdown to Moore, who had five catches for 89 yards, seemed to seal the win for the Bulldogs.
“I got to give big props to my offensive line, they were blocking so hard, I feel like I can take a nap in the pocket, on that play especially,” Luper said. “There was no one even around me so that it gave me the opportunity to throw it up for Mali. (Moore). He runs hard every single play, you can tell he wants the ball for every single play and he caught it for the touchdown and I was super happy. All season, that’s my guy.”
Portola also got a great effort from senior running back Diego Reyna, who rushed for 142 yards on 19 carries and Timmy Grettenberg, who had 40 yards rushing on 11 carries and scored on a pair of 2-yard touchdown runs in the second half. The second score put the Bulldogs ahead 31-14 with 4:50 remaining in the game.
“We rallied well as a team and we got everything together and we were able to come out on top at the end of the game,” Reyna said. “We were trying to see whatever works best for the team, we weren’t trying to have just one player get all the touches. It means the world, it’s the first time in school history.”
“It’s a big thing, we’re very happy about it, it’s our first time being out here,” added Grettenberg. “In the beginning of the season, we had a rough start, we were sick of losing and we just decided we were going to go crazy. The O-line did what they needed to do, the receivers blocking, it has a lot to do with practice, Coach Abe always says, ‘you practice how you play’ and I feel like we all had that sticking around during practice.”
El Rancho put up a battle in the first half, cutting the Portola lead to 10-7 on a 2-yard TD run by Jonathan Medina Jr.
But in the second half, Portola rolled up 14 straights points to move ahead 24-7.
In the fourth quarter, El Rancho quarterback Ryan Dominguez hooked up with Giovanni Montenegro on a 9-yard TD pass to cut the lead to 24-14.
Portola’s defense was also solid with Maxwell Mapstone and Joshua Wang recording second half interceptions.
“I just dropped back and I saw it coming right at me,” he said of the interception. “I think part of our win was shutting down their key players.”
The Portola defense has been led by new defensive coordinator Andy Howe, a former assistant at Irvine.
“He’s (Howe) been great for us, he’s been able to settle in really easily and he’s been a great coach for myself as well helping me get a lot better than I was last year,” Mapstone said.
El Rancho was led by running back Phoenix Navarro, who rushed for 147 yards on 25 carries. Navarro passes for 162 yards for the Dons.
But Portola made the plays when it had to and came off the field with the championship trophy.
“We kept our eyes on the prize and the prize was win the next game, earn another Monday and they did, week after week for four straight weeks,” Abe said. “A lot of guys stepped up, early when we started the run it was kind of heavy handed in terms of one or two guys kind of carrying the load, but the last three or four weeks have just been team wins and everybody stepping up, and everybody making plays, not doing too much but doing their job and doing it well.”
“This team, we’re all very close, we’re like a family,” added Grettenberg.
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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