Jahmir Torres rolled over on his back, head in his hands as he collapsed at the one-yard line.
Three receiving touchdowns, two interceptions and one fumble recovery to his name — but all of that didn’t matter when the King/Drew senior came up a yard short in overtime to end the CIF Division 6-AA Southern California Regional final, ending the Golden Eagles’ season and his high school career.
“Everybody that was supporting King/Drew, I knew that they trusted me to make this play,” Torres said. “It hurts that I didn’t make it.”
Down one point in overtime, Golden Eagles coach Joe Torres gambled with luck and his do-it-all son — an offensive threat — came up short, sending Portola (9-6) to the Division 6-AA state championship game with the 35-34 win at Banning High on Friday night.
“We knew that was coming,” Portola coach Peter Abe said about the failed two-point conversion. “The ball is going to No. 1. How did you not know it was going to No. 1? Rally around that dude.”
In overtime, Portola junior running back Timothy Grettenberg ran the ball in from five yards to give the Bulldogs a 35-28 lead. It wasn’t his first time, either.
Grettenberg contributed 165 yards to Portola’s rushing attack and entered the end zone four times — keeping the Bulldogs in the game when Jahmir Torres made big play after big play to keep King/Drew (11-4) ahead or tied.
“[Coach Abe] always tells us to strike from adversity,” Grettenberg said. “It’s always about the next play and I feel like that’s really pushed me.”
Portola had to play with adversity throughout the contest. King/Drew quarterback Keenan Jackson tossed 86- and 78-yard touchdown passes in the first and second quarters, respectively, on his way to a career-high passing performance. The senior had 360 yards on 15-for-20 passing.
Torres picked off Portola quarterback Nash Luper twice in the second half, the second of which led to a field-goal attempt as the clock expired. Everything seemed to fall the Golden Eagles’ way. But in that moment, Portola blocked the 32-yard attempt to send the game to overtime — where the Bulldogs would claim their first lead of the game.
Abe noted the team’s 0-5 start to the season, battling from a low that led to a Division 11 title and now a spot in the Division 6-AA state championship, where Portola will face Arcata (13-1) at Fullerton High on Dec. 13.
“They’ve been fighting all year,” Abe said. “We were the most dangerous 0-5 team in [Orange County], right? And all they know is rally around each other, rally around the Bulldog pedigree values, and just keep playing.”
Portola, however, was able to win without a key Golden Eagles player on the field. King/Drew senior edge rusher Chinedu Onyeagoro was unavailable on Friday after he flew to Nigeria with his family this morning because of a family emergency, coach Torres said.
King/Drew ended the season with its first championship, winning the City Section Division 1 title last week with a program-record 11 wins.
For coach Torres, he wouldn’t change a single thing about the season, as he told his team after the game. Not even that final play.
“I’d run that play 100 more times,” he said.
