It was only one play, but it represented so much more: a season turned from sour to special, a team seizing another deciding moment, a program fulfilling its founder’s vision.
Portola High was facing sudden death in early December when the opposition – King/Drew of Los Angeles – decided to go for a 2-point conversion in overtime in the CIF Southern California Regional.
The football ended up in the hands of a player who already had scored four touchdowns in the game. But Portola defensive end Reggie Thorn made a lunging tackle to seal a 35-34 victory and the Division 6-AA title.
“In that instant, the kids were going crazy, storming the field and all that,” Bulldogs coach Peter Abe says. “I was walking out to the 50-yard line thinking, ‘It happened again. We needed someone to step up, and they did it again.’
“The kids didn’t really care about the individual person who made the play, either. What mattered is that we did it, and now let’s all go celebrate together. Right then, I was like, ‘That’s exactly what we’re trying to build here.’ ”
“Seeing alumni players, alumni parents and community members witness what we’ve grown into was special.”
coach Peter Abe
The win extended Portola’s magical season and secured a spot in the school’s first state final a week later. Although the Bulldogs would lose that game, their appearance there felt like success.
Down on the sidelines and up in the stands, Abe says he noticed faces representing every graduating class from a program that played its first varsity game only seven seasons ago.
“It was a pretty cool sight just knowing where we started,” Abe says. “Seeing alumni players, alumni parents and community members witness what we’ve grown into was special.
“The hugs and the handshakes and all that stuff at the end was very satisfying knowing that the goals we set out to achieve were happening. The job’s not finished, but we’re on the right track.”
Dramatic turnaround
All of the winning came for the Bulldogs after they opened with five consecutive losses. They played a tough nonleague schedule and were competitive, four of the defeats being decided in the fourth quarter.
“We would joke that we were the most dangerous 0-5 team in the county,” Abe says. “But we were pretty dang serious about it, too.”
Once Portola began Omicron League play, the team won four of five to advance to the playoffs. The Bulldogs were seeded No. 16 and launched their postseason run by beating No. 1 Don Lugo of Chino.
Four more victories followed as Portola went on a 9-1 streak that included wins both dominant and dramatic and contributions from throughout a roster that seemed to grow deeper by the week.
Team effort
“The thing I was most impressed with was how many guys played a factor in the run,” Abe says. “The number of individuals who made astronomical plays for us exactly when we needed those plays to be made was something.”
For the season, Portola was led by quarterback Nash Luper, running backs Timmy Grettenberg and Diego Reyna and receivers Malachi Moore and Anthony Riccardi. Maxwell Mapstone and Adam Nofal spearheaded the defense.
Abe also praised his staff and the support the program received from the community, saying, “It would be impossible to reach our goals without asking for help and getting help from a multitude of people.”
Despite losing the state final, the Bulldogs won more than enough to make history at a school still so young.
“Unfortunately, sometimes you pour everything into something and life still hits you with a bag of bricks,” Abe says. “But it’s not about the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s about the tunnel, the journey.
“I know these kids have made some pretty core memories and some pretty cool memories and will look back on this one day and realize exactly how huge of a feat this really was.”
Tim Burt contributed to this story.
