Mill Valley overcomes opening night jitters, rolls past Shawnee Mission Northwest

By Todd Habiger

Shawnee Mission Northwest came of the gate strong against Mill Valley looking like a football team with something to prove.

Big plays by Northwest running back Jaydence Martinez fueled their opening drive. Northwest quickly found their way into the endzone leaving Mill Valley stunned.

The Jaguars on the other hand came out with a case of opening night jitters. Dropped passes and penalties threatened to stall the Jaguars opening drive. But Mill Valley was able to overcome those mistakes and Jaguars quarterback Holden Applebee scored from six yards out to tie the game up at 7-7.

The Jaguars defense forced a turnover at midfield on Northwest’s next drive and one play later senior running back Max Piva took the ball to the house to give the Jaguars a 14-7 lead.

Piva followed that up with a 24 yard touchdown on the Jaguar’s next possession and it looked like Mill Valley was about to take control of the game. 

But Northwest wasn’t going away. The Cougars got back on the scoreboard and closed the gap to 21-14.

The Jaguars answered with a 47 yard strike from Applebee to wideout Anthony Clem to push the Jaguars lead to 28-14. The Cougars, meanwhile, were able to put together a drive before the half and kick a field goal to narrow the score to 28-17.

Senior offensive lineman Quinn Vaka admitted to being nervous before the game and felt that the offensive line as a whole played sluggish in the first half.

But Vaka said the offense came out in the second half with focus and energy.
“We did so good,” he said. “We had second stringers scoring.”

Max Piva started off the second half by scoring his third touchdown of the night to put the Jaguars up 35-17. But the Cougars continued to fight and answered with a touchdown and two-point conversion to cut the lead to 35-25. That’s as close as they got. The defense stiffened and shut down the Cougars the rest of the night. 

Piva would score his fourth touchdown of the night and backup quarterback Luke Tieman would come into the game after Applebee left with cramps and scampered 64 yards for a touchdown. Junior running back Lucas Mendez would finish off the Jaguars scoring with a touchdown run to give the Jaguars a 56-25 win to open the season. 

Senior defensive lineman Josh Garcia wasn’t happy with the defenses play early on. 

“As a defense we need to come out faster and trust our keys better,” he said.

Lineback Ryder Farley echoed Garcia’s thoughts on the defensive start but was pleased with how they finished.

“You know, we gave up a few big plays, but in the end, we came together and fixed it,” Farley said. “We rallied after giving up those big plays and we didn't let those affect us for the rest of the night.”

Mill Valley will be at home next Friday, Sept. 11, for a showdown against defending 6A state champion Manhattan. It will also be senior night.