Mill Valley wins Kansas Class 5A state football title, beating Wichita Northwest
The second time hurt even more.
Wichita Northwest saw its undefeated season end with a loss in the Class 5A high school football championship game for the second straight season Saturday.
This time it was a loss to Mill Valley, 40-31, at Carnie Smith Stadium in Pittsburg.
After losing handily to St. Thomas Aquinas the year before, Saturday’s defeat stung even more because Northwest genuinely believed it was going to bring home the school’s first state title in the fourth quarter.
The Grizzlies had erased a two-touchdown deficit and had the ball at midfield with the game tied late.
“Game over, we’re going to win this thing,” Northwest coach Steve Martin told reporters afterward about his thought process on the sideline.
“It’s heartbreaking when you know you’ve got a chance. But that’s life, right? We go through that every day of our lives. It’s a learning moment.”
Instead, it was Mill Valley quarterback Cooper Marsh who would not be denied in the fourth quarter. The Jaguars quarterback scored the go-ahead touchdown with 5:21 remaining then led Mill Valley on a game-clinching field-goal drive. Marsh finished with a game-high 183 rushing yards and four touchdowns.
After a 1-3 start to the season, the Jaguars won nine in a row, beating No. 1 seed De Soto and heavily favored Aquinas in the playoffs. The Jaguars ended a storybook season by beating three straight undefeated teams to claim their third state championship since 2015 — all under the direction of head coach Joel Applebee.
Northwest senior quarterback Reagan Jones had a team-high 159 rushing yards, including two touchdowns, to go along with 179 passing yards on 13-of-22 passing and another score. Zion Jones caught six balls for 85 yards and a touchdown, while Jamar Martin (58) and Julius Bolden (40) combined for 98 yards for Northwest.
“These kids are awesome and they showed just how resilient they were today,” Applebee said. “That speaks a lot to our senior leadership and a lot to our kids and the belief they have in what they’re doing. That’s what ended up getting us over the top.”
Mill Valley threatened to pull away as early as the second quarter. The Jaguars led 21-7 and had a red-zone opportunity to tack on another score. But Northwest’s defense produced a fourth-down stop, and then the Grizzlies scored 10 straight points, including a rushing touchdown from Jamar Martin, to stay within striking distance at halftime.
The Jaguars nearly pulled away again later, with Marsh scoring a 24-yard rushing touchdown early in the fourth quarter to put Mill Valley up 31-17.
Needing a quick score, Northwest’s Reagan Jones provided exactly that when he faked a handoff and ran untouched 50 yards into the end zone. On the ensuing kickoff, Northwest squibbed it toward the sidelines and junior Wetu Kalomo ignited the Northwest sideline by recovering the ball. Two plays later, Jones connected with Zion Jones on a fade in the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown.
In 33 seconds, Northwest had erased a 14-point deficit. Momentum swung even more when Northwest’s defense forced a three-and-out to give the Grizzlies the ball at midfield with the game tied and 8:15 remaining.
“Definitely the momentum shifted and we were on top,” Northwest’s Reagan Jones said. “We should have capitalized on that moment.”
But a third-down pass went incomplete and Martin decided to punt on fourth-and-3 at the Mill Valley 38 and trust his defense. The punt was downed at the 7-yard line, but Mill Valley running back Tyler Green proceeded to break a tackle and sprint 60 yards into Northwest territory. Not longer after, Marsh put Mill Valley on top 37-31 with 5:21 remaining.
Mill Valley missed the extra point, and that gave Northwest the tantalizing prospect of scoring a touchdown and kicking a game-winning point-after.
But Northwest couldn’t muster a first down. A fourth-and-4 pass from Jones was batted down at the line of scrimmage with 3:28 remaining. The Grizzlies never had a chance to tie or take the lead after that, as Mill Valley worked the clock down and kicked a 33-yard field goal to seal the victory.
“Until they kicked that field goal, we all believed we were going to win that game,” Reagan Jones said.
Martin said Northwest will not be deterred by another title-game loss in the program’s first two appearances in a championship game. There are still things the Grizzlies can improve upon — two early turnovers they committed, for instance, and the eight penalties they racked up, many of them drive-killers.
“These kids shot for the stars and that’s something we try to do is put ourselves out there and go for something that’s maybe not attainable,” Martin said. “They were this close. They put their hearts and soul out there, so there’s no consoling them. But the sun will come out tomorrow and hopefully eventually this will wear off.
“We’re going to keep knocking on the door and figure out this championship game. We’re going to figure out Game 13 one of these days.”
Mill Valley 40, Wichita Northwest 31
| Northwest (12-1) | 7 | 10 | 0 | 14 | — | 31 |
| Mill Valley (10-3) | 14 | 7 | 3 | 17 | — | 41 |
NW—R. Jones 38 run (Arndt kick), 10:17, 1st
MV—Marsh 52 run (Tennant kick), 9:32, 1st
MV—Marsh 19 run (Tennant kick), 9:23, 1st
NW—Green 1 run (Tennant kick), 11:57, 2nd
NW—Martin 3 run (Arndt kick), 5:12, 2nd
NW—Arndt 39 field goal, 0:02, 2nd
MV—Tennant 28 field goal, 7:35, 3rd
MV—Marsh 24 run (Tennant kick), 11:35, 4th
NW—R. Jones 50 run (Arndt kick), 9:35, 4th
NW—Z. Jones 19 pass from R. Jones (Arndt kick), 9:02, 4th
MV—Marsh 28 run (Tennant kick), 5:21, 4th
MV—Tennant 33 field goal, 0:29, 4th
Individual statistics
Rushing—Northwest, R. Jones 23-159, Martin 9-58, Bolden 10-40, Z. Jones 1-21; Mill Valley, Marsh 22-183, Green 20-131, Wittenauer 6-9.
Passing—Northwest, R. Jones 13-22-0-179; Mill Valley, Marsh 6-11-0-107.
Receiving—Northwest, Z. Jones 6-85, Martin-Peterson 5-78, Coleman 1-9, Martin 1-7; Mill Valley, Jones 2-40, Napoli 2-16, Mills 1-27, Reishus 1-24.
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