Mogollon tops Williams to finish unbeaten season with state title
Through temperature checks, following up on contacts — who went where, when and with whom — Heber Mogollon, led by first-year head coach and longtime program fixture Rick Samon, did it.
The Mustangs finished the pandemic season holding the 1A, 8-man state football championship gold ball on Saturday night with a perfect record, holding off defending champion Williams 38-30 at Scottsdale Coronado High School.
It was the first title for Mogollon (8-0) since 2014 and the fourth that Samon was a part of. For the first three, he was the defensive coordinator.
The former highway patrolman-turned-school teacher took on the task of leading them through the COVID-19 season with the help of longtime, respectable coaches Ron Tenney and Scott Ross.
Tenney, the offensive coordinator, led Mogollon to its first outright title in 2003 as head coach. The Mustangs were co-state champs in 1994 under Tim Slade.
“I look back at these guys,” Samon said. “I coached some of these guys’ dads. Seeing them from after their mammas delivered them to now, being a part of their lives. They believed in our program. They played as little guys on the sidelines and at halftime of games.
“From the get go, I told them, ‘You could be the next state championship team.’ “
The Mustangs did it by handing Williams (6-2) its only two losses. They beat the Viking 48-8 on Oct. 30.
This time, Mogollon, after an early defensive tussle, broke out to an 18-0 lead with three touchdown passes. Quarterback Caden, who has been in a walking boot since October because of a badly sprained ankle, got out of the boot to contribute to the win. He had been sharing the QB duties with Cael Porter. “Caden did an exceptional job coming back from injury,” Samon said. “He played with such poise. He was wearing the boot since October. He wore it when he left the game. Just to have confidence to play with that is incredible. He ran a bootleg to the opposite side of the field and almost scored.He got inside the 3-yard line.”
From there, Samon’s grandson, senior Jayk Kelton, scored.
Mogollon’s championship came with strong contributions from everyone, including sophomore running back Payton Reidhead, who was one of three backs to amass more than 400 rushing yards on the season.
Brothers Malaki and Cael Porter combined to give Mogollon a 38-30 lead with less than two minutes to play with Cael punching it in from a 1 yard out after a long run by Malaki.
Samon was able to share the title with both of his grandsons who play on the team. The other is sophomore Blayk Kelton, who is Jayk’s brother.