The bro’ is strong with Mogollon.

Senior quarterback Cael Porter and his twin brother at running back, Malaki, opened their 1A Conference title defense Friday, Aug. 20, by passing, catching or rushing for eight of Mogollon’s nine touchdowns in a 68-6 mashing of 1A East Region incumbent Tempe Preparatory Academy.

“It’s a small town; we’re all very close,” said Cael Porter, whose four touchdowns on the ground against the Knights alone were one shy of all of his rushing TDs last season. “It might not have been the challenge we had, but we didn’t have a scrimmage, so it was a good first game for us.”

Porter, who passed for 155 yards but no scores in a limited backup role last season, likely surpassed those totals in one night behind center, connecting on one score from 15 yards out and later with Malaki, first-team all-conference on both sides of the ball, from 30, both in the first quarter.

Not to be outdone, Malaki Porter would score twice more on the ground in the highest-scoring overall game for the Mustangs since last season’s 78-12 blasting of Bagdad High School in the 1A semifinal.

“This is our first time hitting anyone, besides ourselves a little bit,” Malaki Porter said. “Our line is phenomenal. We work our butts off. We can’t be content with a big win here.”

Malaki would also roll up double-digit yardage on kickoff returns, including the opening boot, which he took 40 yards up to nearly midfield--a chunk that would set the tone for what would ultimately be a very long, frustrating night for the Tempe Prep defense.

The longest part of it would be the first quarter, a 38-point show of force that barely required the services of junior two-way all-1A performers Payton Reidhead and Blayk Kelton, who hauled in Cael Porter’s first successful two-point conversion pass less than five minutes into the game before focusing his efforts on defense.

“We did run through a lot of plays, but we’ve got a lot more,” added Porter, who cited his brother and running back counterparts like Reidhead and sophomore Ryan Ulmer as the top overall strength of the Mustangs. “The first two series, the running backs got a little tired.”

Another of Mogollon’s all-conference performers, senior Tyler Owens, made the subsequent 15-yard grab from Porter to go up two scores before returning to the other side of the ball to shut down Knights senior quarterback Diego Foster, who, in just five games last fall, passed and ran for more than 1,800 total yards, fourth in the conference.

“That’s our biggest problem, conditioning,” Porter added. “One of the hardest things of the night. We’re going to keep working on that.”

By that point, however, the scoreboard on the field at Chandler Preparatory Academy--a neutral field chosen by the Knights for the Freedom opener--perhaps sensing the bulb strain to come had already had shut down, and for the rest of the night. 

With it went Tempe Prep’s shot at staying close to the defending 1A champs, who only took 18 players down to the Valley from Heber but nevertheless held the Knights without a first down until Malaki Porter’s 30-yard score off the swing pass in the flat put them down, 32-0.

“Some of these guys are going to start [Friday, Aug. 27] at Hayden,” head coach Rick Samon said. “I normally have 34 [players], and I have a big freshman group this year. I have to teach them and build them. Otherwise, I won’t have a team next year.” 

The scoreboard outage at least spared the Knights the sight of the score and the running clock, which activated about two minutes before halftime when Ulmer’s catch of Cael Porter’s two-point conversion pass made it 46-0.

From there, Porter handled most of the offense the rest of the night before giving way in the fourth quarter to sophomore backup Kyson Owens.

Tempe Prep freshman Austin Sampson hauled in a 45-yarder from Foster to avert the shutout, but Owens responded the next drive, connecting with Ulmer on a screen pass he turned into a 40-yard touchdown scramble.

The tough-running Ulmer would then put the finishing touches on the final score, hauling in Owens’ two-point swing pass in the corner of the end zone.

The victory, combined with Mogollon’s undefeated state championship run through its 2020 schedule, amounts to a 10-game win streak for the Mustangs.

Head coach Rick Samon cited team discipline as the key to Mogollon’s continued dominance.

“They have a desire to play, and we teach them how to be dedicated to the sport,” he said. “We keep them well-disciplined.”

Hard work helps, Cael Porter added, and will be key to confronting the greater challenges in their title defense posed by teams like St. David and North Region rival Williams, Cael Porter added.

“We’re happy where we ended last year, but one of our sayings is, ‘Happy, but not satisfied,’” he said. “We want to stay humble, keep our heads up and just keep pushing hard.”