Chapter 5

“The Grind!”

“The Grind.”

It sounds like a horror movie. 

We hear it all the time in regards to Mill Valley football. “The Grind.” 

But what is it really? What is “The Grind?”

Well, maybe it is like a horror movie. It can be painful. It can be tedious. It can be time consuming. 

It can also be rewarding.

“The Grind” is waking up early. Weight lifting. Film study. Conditioning. Practice. Battling through injuries. Fighting the heat. Fighting the cold. Rinse, wash, repeat, every day for four years. And if you’re lucky, sometime after Thanksgiving, you’re rewarded with a ring.

Jaxon Garcia knows about “The Grind.” He’s lived it for the past four years.

“The first few years, when you’re not playing, it gets in your head a little bit,” he said. “You have to push through it, keep working, keep coming every day, keep showing up and work as hard as you can.” 

Jaxon has made his living on the scout team. As a sophomore he was the defensive scout team player of the year. Last year he was honored for his scout team efforts during training camp.

“You have to make sure you go as hard as you can on the scout team to help our guys get better,” he said. “If you do that you can hopefully earn a spot and special teams and help the team that way.”

Jaxon has been playing football for most of his life. He started when he was five years old. He knows the terminology. He knows the defense. He’s dreamed of playing for the Jaguars forever. 

“I've looked up to these guys pretty much my whole life,” he said. “Now I finally get to play, and I hope others will look up to me.”

Jaxon admits, growing up, he didn’t know how much effort went into being a Jaguar.

“My dad told me it was going to be hard and I was going to have to work,” he said. “I’ve always put as much as I can into everything I do, so I’m ready.”

As a senior, Jaxon hopes to start at linebacker for this year’s Jaguar squad and he’s doing everything in his power to make that happen. Even when he’s not on Jaguar time he’s hitting the gym putting in that extra effort in his quest to start.

But it’s not just himself he’s thinking about.

“I feel like I owe my teammates. They come here and work just as hard as me,” he said. “I have to put in as much work as they do — and even more.”

Senior defensive back Jenner Scobee has tasted the exhilaration of starting on Friday nights. Last year, while senior Braden Peters was working his way back from a knee injury, Scobee was called on to start the first two games of the season. 

The switch from junior varsity action to varsity action was immediately noticeable.

“It was a huge change from JV to seeing the speed and physicality of the varsity,” he said. “It definitely helped me know what it was going to take to elevate my game to the next level and be the best player I can.”

Like Jaxson, Jenner has been playing football for a long time. He started off in the first grade playing flag football and continued playing flag until the seventh grade. Coming from that flag background, the physical nature of the game came as something of a shock to him.

“I wasn't the biggest kid, so I got bullied a little bit when I first started playing tackle football,” he said with a smile. 

Having an older brother — Jaden —  that played football helped prepare Jenner for “The Grind.” 

“When my brother came in as a freshman I saw him go out there every single day and put the work in,” Jenner said.

Jaden was a backup running back for the Jaguars. He made one varsity start in his career. It came in the state championship game against Kapaun Mount Carmel. All he did was go out and rush for 300 yards as the Jaguars rolled to a 62-37 victory to capture the 2023 Kansas Class 5A state championship. 

The quest to get Mill Valley back on top drives Jenner to greet “The Grind” head on day after day after day. And when the team calls it quits for the day, Jenner does his own custom workouts as he looks to improve.

“I do a lot of explosive training — fast, quick movements and change of direction. It really helps at my position,” he said.

While Jenner does the physical training to become the best version of himself possible, he works hard on the mental aspect of the game as well.

“Mentally, watching film is honestly the best thing that you can do for yourself,” he said. “Knowing what can happen next, what plays they can run from a certain formation, and knowing what you have to do to stop the other team.”

Unlike many of his teammates, senior defensive lineman Cameron Plaud didn’t grow up in the Junior Jags program. Cameron was homeschooled until the seventh grade and it was then that he got his first taste of competitive football. 

Being a Jaguar has helped Cameron grow as a person and realize that he always needs to put forth his best effort in everything he does.

“Being a Jaguar means that you give every ounce that you have to give. You always give everything you have until you have nothing left,” he said.

As an undersized defensive lineman, Cameron realizes that he has to leave everything on the practice field and the weight room if he’s going to play meaningful minutes this year. Listed at 5 foot 8 inches and 202 pounds last year, Cameron says his technique has to be nearly perfect each and every play to make up for his physical limitations.

And then there are his injury issues. He’s had three concussions, a broken wrist, a hyperextended knee and a triple bone bruise. It’s all added up to a lot of pain and missed playing time. Still, he wakes up everyday and joins his teammates for “The Grind.”

“You can’t really prepare for being injured,” he said. “It’s worrisome, but I would rather do my best and get injured than do nothing at all.”

If Tyler Laningham is going to find his way onto the field this year, it’s going to have to be at a new position. Tyler is making the switch from wide receiver to defensive back. 

Tyler’s work ethic has never been in question. He showed up regularly as a scout team player of the week last year. His teammates respect him, as he was chosen to be a member of the Jaguars leadership council. It’s just a matter of him finding his best spot on the field. 

“I’m still learning,” he said. It’s like the exact opposite of what I played. You have to be a confident cornerback and you have to be a confident receiver. I just carried that confidence from one position to the other.”

While he’s hoping to start, Tyler realizes that the position switch is working against him. But that’s not going to stop him from giving 100 percent in everything he does. 

“I just have to be the hardest worker and the best teammate out there,” he said. “If I don’t start that would be disappointing but nothing is set in stone. You can always move from a two to a one.”

Tyler shares the goal of everyone of his teammates in chasing a state championship. He’s played the game since he was in kindergarten and many of the players on this year’s team are ones he’s grown up playing the game with.

“God and being with my boys playing our last season is what motivates me,” he said. “You don't really think about it your first three years, but when your senior year is here, you're like, ‘dang, it's really the last time I get to play with these guys, let's end it the right way.’”