Not much has changed for Porter’s football program heading into this season. The Spartans return most of their starters. The mindset and approach is essentially the same.
Sure, Porter went 5-5 overall last year, 4-4 in district play, and missed the playoffs. They haven’t made the postseason since 2019.
But coach Billy Russell and his team thinks last season was a few plays from turning out differently.
“If you take three plays away, we’re 7-3,” said Russell, who is entering his third season at the helm of Porter. “For us this year, we just want to get better every day. We understand it’s been a process, especially with these seniors. We want to make sure we leave no stone unturned and pay attention to detail so that those things don’t happen again. Learn from the past in moving forward. That’s not to take away anything from the past. Those kids in the past worked hard and competed in every game.”
Russell said the culture is the culture. The foundation of what the program is built upon never changes.
It’s values that identify with those of the New Caney community.
“Over the years, we’ve established who we are and what we’re about,” Russell said. “Our community is a community where the men get up and go to work every day to provide for their family. It’s a blue-collar mentality. We embrace that. We use that to celebrate the men in our community. They get up and go to work and our kids get up and go to football practice. We try to embody Porter.”
Porter has an opportunity, on paper, to surprise a lot of people this year.
The Spartans return 14 starters, including eight from a defense that allowed 21.1 points per game and was second in District 8-5A, Division I.
The anchor is 6-foot, 225-pound senior linebacker Ryan Gilliam, who had 113 tackles (63 solo), eight tackles for loss, five sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery last year.
“He’s about as steady of a football player as any school or community could ask for,” Russell said. “He’s a great teammate, first of all. The kids listen to him because they know he has their best interests in mind. I don’t think there’s a selfish bone in his body. He’s easy to follow, and no one will outwork him.”
The secondary is also stacked with talent with junior Darville “DJ” Allen, and seniors Eyan Hitchen and Anthony Portonova.
“Those guys are our guys, and we try to strategically place those guys where we think they’re going to run the football,” Russell said.
Offensively, the Spartans have weapons in senior quarterback Payton Evans-Pickens, who threw for 442 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 406 yards and 10 touchdowns last year, and senior receiver Mairon Lewis.
Evans-Pickens and promising junior Aaron Gilliam will share time at quarterback. Whenever one is at QB, the other will be at a skill spot.
Lewis and Allen are premier two-way talents with terrific ball skills.
The offensive line is a veteran unit led by senior Gabe Castillo and junior Marco Guerra.
“They both played in every game for us last year, and are physically very strong,” Russell said. “They really help us out a lot.”
Russell is excited about Landon Binford.
“He was on the varsity last year as a freshman, played mainly defense, but he’ll be our sophomore tailback,” Russell said.
The Spartans will be fine in the talent department this year. What they can always rely upon is perspective.
It’s part of the culture ingrained in the program. Lessons that are as attributable to life as they are the gridiron.
“We don’t ask them to be perfect but we do ask they give us their all,” Russell said. “That’s what it takes to be a good man, a good husband, a good citizen. The second thing we want to do is be tough, which is not only doing the hard things but also being mentally tough.
“Whatever happens outside of that is out of our control, but we can control giving our all and being mentally and physically tough.”
