Eric SorensonThey don’t look the same.
They don’t act the same.
They don’t even play the same but both are blessed with football bloodlines.
Mountain Pointe senior two-way star Isaiah Pola-Mao has schools from around the country tripping over themselves for his services. At six-foot-four, 190 pounds his skill set is unique. A perfect tall, rangy wide receiver or a player who can cover half the field in your secondary.
Younger brother Matt is already establishing his own MP legacy. The six-foot-two, 300-pound sophomore with the bushy, flowing hair frequently draws double or even triple teams as the anchor of head coach Norris Vaughan’s defensive line.
Oh, did we mention he also plays along the offensive line, as well?
“He’s just maturing,” Vaughan said after his team blew out perennial power Chandler 52-7 Thursday night in Ahwatukee. “He’s just a great athlete. He’s big, he’s strong.”
You’d never mistaken the well-proportioned, stout younger Pola-Mao for just a sophomore.
As a freshman he tallied 50 tackles (four for loss) and quickly began attracting attention from Division I schools. He already has offers from Arizona State, Arizona, BYU, Illinois and Oregon State.
For now, his focus is the Pride who improved to a perfect 3-0 after dismantling the Wolves.
“I’m not really worried about [the recruiting] now,” Matt said to Sports360AZ.com. “I’m just focused on the season. I’ll probably worry about that after the season.”
One glimpse of Matt on the sideline or field and you’d be hard-pressed to believe he worries about much of anything.
He’s as vocal as he is tenacious…as animated as he is respectful towards teammates and coaches.
He owes much of his early prep success to Vaughan.
“He’s helped me mature a lot,” Matt said of his head coach. “Last year he taught me how to play with bigger [players]. I doesn’t matter how old they are. It’s matters about your heart and how hard you play.”
At first glimpse it’s easy to see no one will ever question either of those attributes.
