Jaguars power past manhattan

By Todd Habiger

Holding a slim 14-7 lead over Manhattan High School with a little over 10 minutes left in the game, Mill Valley put their faith in their ground game. 

With a strong push from his offensive line, running back Max Piva rammed the ball into the heart of the Manhattan defensive time and time again until he finally hit paydirt after shaving six minutes off the clock to give the Jaguars a 21-7 lead.

The defense, which played so well all night, did the rest. They shut down Manhattan’s final drive at the 30 yard line and Mill Valley laid claim to victory and the number 1 ranking in class 6A.

“I feel like we did a really good job tonight,” said senior strong safety Kendyn Charbonneau.”You know, we gave 100% effort every single play and things worked out great for us.”

A week after giving up several big plays to Shawnee Mission Northwest, the Jaguars defense yielded nothing easy to Manhattan. The Indians could not string together a decent drive all night. In the first half, the Jaguars didn’t allow the Manhattan offense a first down.

Mill Valley scored late in the first quarter when Holden Applebee connected with receiver Ryan Helm for a long score to put the Jaguars up 7-0. Late in the second quarter the Jaguars struck again with a Max Piva touchdown to take a 14-0 lead into the half.

Both teams continued to slug it out in the third quarter. Manhattan finally broke into the scoring column at 1:48 left in the third to cut the lead to 14-7.

The score stayed that way until the Jaguars offense marched down the field on the legs of Piva.

Senior offensive lineman Quinn Vaka said that the offensive line was disappointed in their performance on the drive before the final touchdown and was determined to make amends.

“On that last drive, we all were able to reset and we drove it down and scored,” Vaka said. “It was just trusting each other and doing our jobs. We knew mentally we were going to be able to do this.”

Piva said that the team knew that the game was going to be a grind and that he needed to run hard for all four quarters. 

He also praised his offensive line on that final drive. 

“Those guys are always so amazing,” he said. “I love having them on my team.”

Senior quarterback Holden Applebee was pleased to get the early season win against a quality opponent.

“We just kept competing and never got down,” he said. We just kept driving, kept driving, and we knew what the outcome was going to be, if we just kept working.”

Senior defensive lineman Josh Garcia said that key to the team's defensive effort was just practice.

“The key is preparation. We were prepared for everything and we practiced our ass off,” he said. “Every morning and night we were determined to put us in the best situation possible.”

Charbonneau said that he was happy with the team’s win against a quality opponent.

“It’s early in the season but you want to see who you really are,” he said. “
I think Manhattan was a great opponent to have in week two. We came out on top and it's a really good feeling to have early in the year.”

Holden Applebee couldn’t agree more. While he’s happy with the win he knows that this is only the beginning.

“We're going to celebrate it tonight, but then, tomorrow we're moving on. Next game. Week three. We’ve got to focus on that after tonight,” he said.

The Jaguars will take on Shawnee Mission West next Thursday at Shawnee Mission South.