Pacifica Mariners celebrate Omincron League title Thursday night. (PHOTOS: Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone).
Pacifica High School’s football team celebrated its second consecutive Omicron League title defeating Portola 20-7 Thursday night in a battle of two undefeated league teams at Portola.
Both teams are headed to the CIF playoffs. Pacifica goes as the No. 1 team and Portola, the defending CIF Division 11 champion, No. 2. Playoff pairings will be announced Sunday. The teams could be in different playoff divisions.
Pacifica (7-3, 5-0) battled back from a 7-6 halftime deficit cashing in on two big interceptions in the second half. Portola (6-4, 4-1) played without starting quarterback Orion Suttle, who sufferd a sprained ankle last week. Coach Peter Abe said Suttle’s injury will be assessed next week. He’s hoping Suttle can return for the Bulldogs’ playoff opener.
To see the slide show, click on the first photo:
Pacifica was able to put forth an outstanding effort for four quarters going into the playoffs.
“I think it says everything about the kids we have and the coaching,” said Pacifica Coach Kyle Murphy. “We lost our entire defensive staff last year, they all moved on to different places, that’s a difficult thing meshing the new people. Offensively, being together for three years has helped. We have a senior at quarterback (James Anema), we got David (Carlsson) and a lot of seniors who put in a lot of time and a lot of work. I demand a lot from myself, I demand a lot from them.”
Pacifica was led by Anema, who completed 8 of 17 passes for 123 yards and two touchdown passes, both to Carlsson, who had five catches for 113 yards.
Senior running back Ma’Kai Brown rushed for 148 yards on 30 carries sealing the win with a 1-yard TD run with 2:50 remaining in the game.
The Mariners were jubilant after a meeting with their head coach.
“It means everything, we put in work all year long,” said Anema. “We expected this, we put in work every single day. I was proud of my guys. Our line did a great job tonight. Coach Murphy, one of his biggest words is the standard, and our standard is winning and that’s what we do.”
Blaise Williams gave Portola an early lead when he ran for a TD from 18 yards out in the first quarter. But Pacifica got closer when Anema connected with Carlsson on a 19-yard TD late in the first half. Portola blocked the extra point and held on to a 7-6 lead at halftime.
In the second half, Zack Dickison intercepted a pass by Portola quarterback Malachi Moore, who was filling in for Suttle, on the Bulldogs first possesion. On the next play, Anema hit Carlsson on an 33-yard TD pass to put Pacifica ahead to stay, 13-7.
“That’s my guy, we have great connections, he’s my best friend, we got to keep things rolling,” Anema said.
Pacifica’s Xander Schmidt also had an interception which set up Brown’s late TD run.
“That was an unbelievable pick,” Murphy said. “In championship games, you need to make big plays. We didn’t turn the ball over and we got two turnovers.”
Moore, who stepped in at quarterback for Portola, battled all night and led his team with 70 yards rushing and 53 yards passing. Junior Rylan Kuch also took some snaps for the Bulldogs.
Abe, the Portola coach, couldn’t find fault in the Bulldogs effort.
“We played well, with three days preparation with two new quarterbacks, I think we played fantastic, you always wish you can have three or four plays back,” Abe said. “That’s kind of championship football, you’ve got to execute when you get your opportunities, there were one too many bad calls, one too many mistakes.
“We had those guys 7-6 for damn near the whole half and two big blocked kicks (one on a field goal) and kept it close at 13-7, and then we start getting some penalties. It’s the kind of game and the kind of effort that we would expect and at the end of the day, you got to tighten up a few of those mistakes and got to put guys in a little bit better position.
“We were winning the field position battle in the first half, but not the second half.”
In the third quarter, Portola also missed a chance to get the ball back deep in Pacifica territory following a fumble on a punt from the Pacifica 10 yard line. Pacifica’s Luke Starr recovered the ball, ran for a first down and the Mariners maintained possession.
Portola would have had an excellent opportunity to score with a fumble recovery.
“That bobbled punt kind of killed us, and then throwing that pick, that was rough,” Abe said. “At the end of the day, I couldn’t be more proud of these guys effort, they came out and put themselves in position to get the job done. The ball didn’t bounce our way, hats off to those guys. Pacifica is a well coached team and disciplined. For four quarters, they played better tonight, we wish we could have a quarter or a quarter and a half back.”
Abe was impressed with the effort of Moore, normally a wide receiver.
“He played fantastic,” Abe said. “We got another wrinkle we can throw in there. He’s got a pretty good arm and some good legs.”
Jamal Abdelkarim had three catches for 35 yards for Portola, which was seeking its first league title since 2022.
—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
‘
The post PHOTOS: Pacifica captures second straight league title with comeback win over Portola first appeared on .