Photo Credit: Todd Habiger/Special to PrepsKC 
For several weeks, Olathe North (5-1) has been without its best running back. TJ Porter was set to return against Mill Valley (5-1) from an Achilles and high ankle sprain, but he worried what the first tackle would feel like.
“Coming into it, I was like, it feels good, but I was scared because, in practice, we’re not allowed to tackle fully,” Porter said.
At just 5’6 and 144 pounds, TJ Porter is a shifty running back with serious speed. With him on the sidelines the last few games, the Olathe North offense isn’t as dynamic. The fast-paced no-huddle with a speedy running back is Olathe North’s offensive identity.
“We rely on him,” said Olathe North Coach Chirs McCartney. “He’s the rock of our offense.”
By the time he first touched the ball, Olathe North already needed a big play from Porter, trailing 7-0 with barely any time off the clock.
Mill Valley went with a new quarterback, starting junior Connor Bonhom rather than the senior Daniel Blaine, who has started most of the season for the Jaguars. Blaine had a tight hamstring coming into the game against Olathe North.
On the second play of the game, Bonhom faked the handoff and kept it himself, finding a hole up the middle and running 58 yards for the first touchdown of the game.
As much as Olathe North relies on the run, Mill Valley may be one of the few teams that has committed even more to the running game. That didn’t change with Bonhom taking the place of Blaine.
“It was still the same offense, a lot of what we call double-power. Just the quarterback sharing runs with the running back, and they just try to power the ball the whole time,” McCartney said. “It wasn’t anything really shocking, just that we had another guy in there.”
Olathe North responded, down 7-0, with its first handoff to Porter, who burst up the middle on a counter for a 50-yard run. It appeared Porter would score on his first carry as he returned, but he was caught 4 yards short before Aiden Bruce finished the drive with the touchdown run.
On the next drive, Olathe North quarterback Jamo Sarver got the Mill Valley defense with the play-action then passed over the top to tight end Vincent Valdez, who ran untouched into the end zone for a 79-yard reception and the only touchdown pass of the night.
Before the half, Sarver scrambled on 3rd & 10 from midfield to pick up an important first down. Before the Mill Valley defense could get set for the next play, Sarver was already snapping it and handing it off to Porter, who made it around the edge for a 42-yard touchdown run, giving Olathe North a 21-7 lead into the locker room.
Mill Valley would find an opportunity to tie the game in the second half, down 21-14 and driving inside Olathe North territory. The defense managed to hold several rushing attempts by Mill Valley running back Tristan Baker, setting up 3rd & 10, which would fall incomplete to Davion Harris.
The Olathe North defense held Mill Valley to 89 yards rushing and just two completions.
With one more sprint around the outside edge from TJ Porter on a 50-yard touchdown, Olathe North moved to 6-1 this season. That only loss of the season came against Gardner-Edgerton, in a game that Porter missed.
“He was big. We’ve been missing him for the last three or four weeks,” McCartney said. “It’s great to have him back.”
