Photo Credit: Justin Flor/PrepsKC 
Listed at 5-foot-6, 144 pounds, Olathe North running back TJ Porter showed plenty of times that he was the fastest player on the field in the Eagles’ 61-28 win over Shawnee Mission North on Friday. But there were also quite a few occasions where he showed that he was the toughest player.
Porter was running away from the SM North defense all night while racking up 298 rushing yards and six touchdowns, but that wasn’t all he did. The Olathe North senior also took snaps around the goal line in the wildcat offense, handing it off to Aiden Bruce for his two touchdown runs. And on the Eagles’ biggest play of the game, Porter threw the final block to help spring Miller Jones free for an 85-yard touchdown run. And, of course, Porter caught up to Jones after throwing the block to be the first one to celebrate with him in the end zone.
“It’s great to enjoy those moments as a team,” Porter said. “It’s good to score individual touchdowns, but it’s better when the whole team is eating. It was good to lead him to the end zone.”
Porter’s six touchdown runs were on carries of 60, 65, 13, 54, 7 and 18 yards. The three 50-plus yard touchdown runs were one-play scoring drives for the Eagles. Olathe North needed each one of them, too, as the Bison were neck and neck with the Eagles for two-and-a-half quarters.
Judah Jones’s 13-yard touchdown run cut the Olathe North lead to 35-28 with 6:49 to play in the third quarter. It was all Eagles after that, though, as Miller Jones’s touchdown run less than 30 seconds later started a run of 26 unanswered points for Olathe North.
“I don’t think we competed very well in the first half. We made a lot of mistakes,” Olathe North coach Chris McCartney said. “We came out in the second half and cleaned some of those up. We created some turnovers, which is always big for us. Offensively, we just kept churning it out and had some big plays. Each week, we’re getting a little bit better and a little bit smarter.”
McCartney knew that his team wasn’t the only explosive offense on the field Friday night. The Bison put up 40-plus points in each of their first games and got off to an extremely fast start against the Eagles. They only needed 11 seconds to get on the scoreboard first thanks to a 62-yard touchdown pass from Alex Casares to Jourden White.
“That didn’t surprise me one bit. They’re a talented team.” McCartney said. “Coach (Andy Walter) has done a great job over there. He’s turned that program into something that’s very competitive. We knew that coming in, but I don’t think our kids bought into it until we actually got going. They’re going to win a lot of ballgames. He’s doing a great job and has made the Sunflower League a lot better just by doing that.”
The Bison’s lone lead of the game was brief, though. Bruce found pay dirt on back-to-back drives to put the Eagles ahead 13-7 with 4:42 to go in the first quarter. SM North was driving to try to retake the lead early in the second quarter, but Wyatt Flood picked off Casares and returned it to the Olathe North 40-yard line. Porter scored on the very next play to push the Olathe North lead to two scores.
“TJ’s the heart and soul of this team. He doesn’t say a word and comes out and works harder than anybody,” Olathe North coach Chris McCartney said. “He does whatever we ask him to do. If we asked him to go out there and play center, he’d probably run up there and play center. He’s a tough kid, works extremely hard and does everything right. He’s a good role model for everyone else.”
SM North’s quick-strike offense made it a one-score game again just one minute and 29 seconds later. Casares connected with Nate Doolin on a 28-yard touchdown pass over the middle to cut SM North’s deficit to 21-14. But once again, Porter scored on the next play—breaking free for a 65-yard touchdown run.
Judah Jones rumbled in from 10 yards out for the first of his two touchdowns with 4:33 to play in the half. The score remained 28-21 Olathe North going into the break, and the Bison never could quite get back even with the Eagles.
Olathe North (3-0) will try to keep rolling at 7 p.m. Friday in a home tilt against SM South. SM North (1-2) will attempt to get back to .500 at 7 p.m. Friday in a home matchup against SM East.
