Quarterback Orion Suttle led Portola offensively in Friday’s win. (FILE PHOTO: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).
Portola High School’s football team kept its hopes alive for an Omicron League title with a 32-3 victory over University Friday night at Uni.
Portola (5-3, 3-0) is tied for first place with Pacifica (5-3, 3-0) with two league games left.
Portola, coached by Peter Abe, plays at Buena Park Friday and ends the league season with a showdown against Pacifica on Thursday, Oct. 30 at Portola.
University (3-5, 1-2) is tied for third place with Woodbridge and Buena Park. University meets Woodbridge Friday night at Uni. Woodbridge will be the home team.
Three teams from the league earn automatic bids to the CIF playoffs.
On Friday, Portola used two game changing plays sandwiching halftime to top University.
After a scoreless first quarter Portola got on the board three minutes into the second quarter on a 5-yard touchdown run by Timmy Grettenberg.
The senior running back carried the ball 13 times for 83 yards. University countered with an 8-minute plus drive culminating in a 34-yard field goal by senior Jake Rabold to cut the deficit to 7-3 with 41 seconds remaining in the half.
Four plays later junior quarterback Orion Suttle found Jamal Abdelkarim on a 70-yard scoring strike with 9 seconds to go before the intermission.
Senior Malachi Moore opened the second half with a 98-yard kickoff return giving Portola two scores in less than 30 seconds and a 21-3 lead.
Suttle added a TD pass to senior tight end Maxwell Mapstone later in the third quarter before Ishaan Kedia kicked a 30-yard field goal to cap the scoring.
Portola had 306 total yards, 136 on the ground and 170 from the arm of Suttle, who was 9 for 12 for 170 yards.
University had 169 yards, 79 running and 90 passing.
Two Trojan seniors stood out. Arvin Jahangiri had 3 receptions for 41 yards and accounted for two red zone turnovers, a fumble recovery at the one yard line and an interception in the end zone.
Lucca Clouthier caught two passes for 30 yards, punted four times for 153 yards (including one for 57 yards), ran a fake punt for 15 yards and had two tackles for loss on defense (one a sack).
—Courtesy Daryl Bogard, For OC Sports Zone
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