Growing up Jaguar

By Todd Habiger

The thumping sound of hip hop music nearly drowns out the clink, clank and thuds of the weight room. Occasionally a primal scream will rise above it all.

There’s not a lot of smiles on the faces in the Mill Valley weight room. Mostly deep concentration as players adapt a workman-like attitude.

It’s not even 7 a.m. as the blood is pumping and muscles strain against their metal nemesis. No one is complaining. This is what they signed up for. For most of these guys they’ve been working toward this most of their lives. And it all started with the Junior Jaguars.

Mill Valley Jaguars head football coach Joel Applebee didn’t invent youth football in western Shawnee when he was hired in 2010. What he did was bring it under one banner. 

“I wanted to establish a program where we had a draft and every kid had a chance to play,” he said. “That’s what was going to build our numbers. I wanted to keep kids interested in football.” 

 He also asked that youth coaches start adopting the high school playbook and terminology. 

“If you can start teaching kids our terminology at the youth level, that’s going to be really big as they advance through our program. That way we’re not teaching them that stuff in high school. They already know it.”

One can’t really argue with the success the high school team has had under Applebee’s reign. Seven state champions speak for themselves and Mill Valley has established itself as one of the power programs in Kansas. 

The Junior Jaguar program has been a huge part of that success. More than 300 kids sign up to play annually and it provides a pipeline of talent that goes straight to the high school. 

At the Junior Jaguar level, wins and losses are irrelevant. 

“I want lots of kids out there enjoying the game of football,” Applebee said. “Nobody is going to win a state championship in second, third, fourth and fifth grade. The idea is to keep building kids and show them what our culture is like so they have a good understanding when they come into high school.”

Senior offensive lineman Quinn Vaka started playing football as a Junior Jaguar in the fourth grade. A little hero worship got him to suit up. Quinn’s older brother Spencer started playing football in middle school.

“I always wanted to be like him,” Vaka said. “So when he started playing I wanted to be part of the program too.”

Vaka said that as a Junior Jaguar, Mill Valley Night Lights and having all the high school players watch and cheer him on was a highlight for him every year. 

“I loved it when my brother and his friends would watch me play and hype me up. It was so cool,” he said.

Vaka is the most experienced offensive lineman on this year’s Jaguar team. He said the Junior Jaguar program was integral in his development as a football player.

“It helped me a lot. We ran the same plays we do now. We’re not learning the plays as much as we are learning technique. We’ve known these plays since we were little kids,” he said.

Being the oldest child in his family, Stone Zambo didn’t have anyone to help pave the way for him. He made his own path.

Stone started playing football in kindergarten. Along the way he not only found he loved the game but also a second family.

“Being on the Junior Jaguars team with all the other kids gave me a brotherhood,” Zambo said. “We’ve been playing the game together forever so that brought us closer as we grew and we have developed a chemistry.”

That brotherhood helped keep Zambo going when things got tough as he started high school.

“I didn’t think it would be this hard but it’s definitely gotten easier as the years went by,” he said. “What you put in is what you get out. It wasn’t easy but it made me into the player that I am today,” he said.

The player Zambo is today is an all league tight end and one of the Jaguar’s leaders on the field. 

Like many players coming through the Junior Jaguars program, Zambo played a variety of positions. He played quarterback, defensive end, linebacker before settling in at tight end. 

“The coaches decided that I would be most successful at tight end,” he said. “I also thought that it was the best position for me and I’ve grown into the role, learning more and more about it each year.”

Zambo says football has given him so much and taught him many life lessons.

“Whenever you’re going through adversity, never give up and keep going because you’re strong enough to get through these battles,” he said. “Nothing lasts forever. Everything is temporary.”

Holden Applebee didn’t just grow up in the Junior Jaguars program, he was practically born into it. With his father being the head coach for the high school team it was pretty much a given that Holden would be a Junior Jaguar when he was old enough.

“Everything in our family has centered around Mill Valley football,” Holden said. “It’s been really cool to be able to grow up in the program.”

Although his father was a huge influence on him, Holden was never coached by Joel Applebee until he reached high school. He had a variety of coaches over the years but said each one of them knew that the endgame was to get the kids ready to eventually compete for state championships.

“All the Junior Jag coaches understand what we’re doing in high school and they teach that to the kids so they’re ready,” he said. “Everything we do in high school is done at the Junior Jag level.”

Holden said that the majority of the guys he first started playing football with as a Junior Jaguar are still playing today.

“You build a lot of chemistry and become like a brotherhood playing all these years with the same guys,” he said. “It makes playing with them a lot more special and makes you want to work harder for the guy next to you knowing that they have been working just as hard with you throughout the years.”

Barrett Carbajo was a late comer to the Junior Jaguars program, joining as a sixth grader. Still, the lessons he learned became invaluable as he worked his way through middle school and onto the high school team.

“The most important thing I learned is that everybody has a role, no matter if you’re on the field or on the sideline, you just have to fill your role and do the best you can at whatever your job is,” he said.

Carbajo started off as a tight end and linebacker in Junior Jaguars before converting to a defensive end in high school.

“When I got to high school the coaches found a better fit for me to get on the field faster and help me develop as a player,” he said. 

It’s hard to argue with the results. As a sophomore last year, Carbajo found himself starting key games for the Jaguars down the stretch and into the playoffs when starter Josh Garcia went down with an injury. Carbajo stepped up and filled in nicely before Garcia returned to action. 

Carbajo said as a Junior Jaguar he never realized the dedication and hard work that went into becoming a state power. But it didn’t take him long to completely buy into the program.

“The biggest shock for me was finding out the amount of work that goes into football when no one is watching — the offseason weights, the summer conditioning — all that happens behind the scenes.”

Freshman Nash Borchardt has been a Jaguar for as long as he can remember. He started playing for the Junior Jaguars in the first grade and last season was a ball boy for the team. This year he’s aiming to quarterback the freshman team.

Nash’s older brother Davis helped pave the way for Nash.

“I saw my brother out there playing and I was like, I want to do that,” he said.

Nash says being part of the Junior Jaguars program has helped prepare him for high school since he knows all the formations and plays. Every year was another year of building up his football knowledge on the Junior Jaguar foundation.

Having Davis go before him helped Nash navigate each level of football as he moved through the Junior Jaguar program and onto middle school and now high school.

“He gave me an honest rundown of how everything works,” Nash said.

Nash said he’s enjoyed every step of the way because he’s experienced them with his closest friends. 

“It’s great being able to have fun with my friends every day, doing something that I love, and getting better every day,” he said.