IRVINE — Pacifica’s defense had two interceptions in the second half in a 20-7 win over Portola on Thursday to clinch its second consecutive Omicron League championship.
Pacifica (7-3, 5-0) has won consecutive league championships for the first time since 2006-07 when it won the Garden Grove and Empire league championships, respectively.
“I think it says everything about the kids we have and the coaching,” Pacifica coach Kyle Murphy said. “We have a lot of seniors who have put in a lot of time and a lot of work. I demand a lot from myself and from them for this reason, so that when you get into difficult situations, you can succeed.”
Portola (6-4, 4-1) finishes second in the league standings and is an automatic qualifier for the CIF-SS playoffs. The Bulldogs won the CIF-SS Division 11 championship last season after finishing second in league.
Pacifica moved the ball well in the first half but struggled on late down conversions and had drives stall out. The two interceptions in the second half ignited Pacifica and gave the Mariners good field position.
On the opening series of the second half, Zack Dickison intercepted a Portola pass at Portola’s 33-yard line. On the next play, James Anema connected with Dylan Carlsson for a 33-yard touchdown pass to give Pacifica a 13-7 lead.
“It was a game-changer. Momentum is everything in this game,” Carlsson said. “Things are going one way, the next thing you know we make a big play and we are on top.”
Midway through the fourth quarter, Xander Schmidt intercepted a Portola pass which led to a 2-yard touchdown run by Ma’kai Brown to extend Pacifica’s lead to 20-7.
“Those are things in league championship games, you need to make plays,” Murphy said. “We didn’t turn the ball over and we got two turnovers. Minus some penalties, it was a pretty clean game for us.”
Carlsson caught five passes for 115 yards with two touchdowns for the Mariners and made some big pass deflections at cornerback on defense. All but 11 of Anema’s passing yards were received by Carlsson.
Brown ran for 146 yards on 32 carries with a touchdown.
Portola was playing without starting quarterback Orion Suttle. Receiver and defensive back Malachi Moore took the majority of the snaps at quarterback for the Bulldogs.
Moore ran for a team-high 68 yards and threw for 53. He had not attempted a pass in his varsity career until Thursday.
Portola scored late in the first quarter on an 18-yard touchdown run by Blaise Williams to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead. The touchdown was the first rushing touchdown of the season for Williams.
Pacifica attempted a 36-yard field goal in the second quarter but it was blocked by Michael Hood.
The Mariners scored late in the second quarter on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Anema to Carlsson, but the extra point was blocked by Williams and Portola led 7-6 at halftime.
Robert Barnard and Dickison each had sacks for Pacifica’s defense. Max Salas had two punts land inside Portola’s 10-yard line including one that landed at the 1-yard line.
Homza Soliman had a sack for Portola and Maxwell Mapstone led the Bulldogs in tackles.
“That’s a very good defense with really good linebackers,” Murphy said of Portola. “Mapstone is an excellent, excellent football player.”
