Mill Valley rules Kansas 5A: Jaguars topple unbeaten Northwest to wrap up magical run
The same Mill Valley football team that was dancing and raucously celebrating another state championship Saturday afternoon was at one point 1-3 this season.
One would think the heartbreak and anguish of those three, one-score losses in September would be long since buried in the minds of the Jaguars. But after Mill Valley defeated Wichita Northwest 40-31 in the Kansas Class 5A championship game at Carnie Smith Stadium to claim its third state title since 2015, those losses were what they wanted to talk about.
They still remember that doubt the surfaced after that dismal start, and they wanted to thank those doubters for providing fuel for the nine straight wins that followed.
“We never doubted ourselves,” senior linebacker Carson Caldwell said. “We knew we were going to take care of business when it mattered.”
“We knew, no matter what anybody else said or what the noise outside of this program was, we knew how much blood, sweat and tears we put into it,” said senior running back Tyler Green, who rushed for 131 yards and a touchdown. “We knew there was no one that was going to work harder than we do and want it more than we do.”
Credit that belief to the structure coach Joel Applebee has created at Mill Valley (9-3). Many Kansas high school coaches obsess over building and maintaining culture, but few have been able to do so as successfully as Applebee.
Mill Valley reaped the rewards of that culture this postseason, knocking off three straight undefeated teams in the playoffs to win the trophy — including No. 1 seed De Soto, St. Thomas Aquinas 34-31 in overtime last weekend, and ultimately Northwest (10-1).
Those same Aquinas Saints had being picked by many to win the state title this season.
“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.”
On Saturday, it was quarterback Cooper Marsh and an opportunistic defense that pushed Mill Valley to the championship. Marsh finished with a game-high 183 rushing yards and four touchdowns to go along with 107 passing yards on six completions, while the defense registered two clutch stops in the fourth quarter.
The Jaguars looked ready to pull away from Northwest in the first half when they took a 21-7 lead early in the second quarter, only for Northwest to rally to within four, at 21-17, by halftime. Again, though, Mill Valley pushed forward and opened up a 31-17 lead early in the fourth quarter when Marsh scored his third rushing touchdown from 24 yards out.
But then Mill Valley’s momentum seemed to disappear. Northwest quarterback Reagan Jones (159 rushing yards) reeled off a 50-yard scoring run. Seconds later, Northwest recovered a squibbed kick near the sideline, and Jones scored again two plays later on a 19-yard pass to Zion Jones.
In less than 40 seconds, Mill Valley’s 14-point lead had been erased.
“To be honest, I wasn’t nervous at all,” Caldwell said. “I knew that our defense would go out there and stop them. We trained all throughout the summer for these moments. We knew we would be put in these kinds of situations, so we were ready to step up and get a stop for our team.”
“We never had any doubt on the sideline,” senior safety Jack McGuire added. “We always believed we were going to win the game.”
Even when Mill Valley’s offense went three-and-out and punted the ball back to Northwest’s potent offense, which took over at midfield with the game tied and more than eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
When Mill Valley’s defense needed a stop, the Jags came through and forced Northwest to punt the ball right back.
“We talk to our kids about that all the time, about keeping your head in the game and focusing on what’s next,” Applebee said. “You can’t think about what’s happened. You have to learn from it and move on, whether it’s good or bad, we had to respond the right way. They’ve done that all year long and I’m so proud of them.”
And sure enough, when the ball was put in Marsh’s hands, good things happened.
With Northwest’s defense keyed on Green in the backfield, Marsh was able to run free by confusing Northwest with fake handoffs. Time and again, Marsh pulled back the ball for quarterback keepers that went for 10-plus yards.
After the game, Marsh credited Mill Valley’s pulling offensive linemen for opening up holes, singling out Kyle Kelly, Adrien Blazer, Mason Scott, Robbie Dervin, Ethan Kremer and Sam Hecht. They paved the way for Marsh to dart in from 28 yards for the go-ahead touchdown to put Mill Valley up 37-31 with 5:21 remaining, and did so again on Mill Valley’s game-clinching drive that ended with Chris Tennant 33-yard field goal.
“It’s so amazing when I turn the corner and I see my linemen working and I see the huge hole,” Marsh said. “I actually start laughing when I’m running. I’m like, ‘Touchdown, touchdown, touchdown.’”
For Wichita Northwest, it was a second straight loss in the school’s first two appearances in a state championship game.
“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,” Northwest coach Steve 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.”
Applebee, meanwhile, improved to 3-0 in title games. For a team that successfully replaced 16 starters from last year, he’s right when he says the infrastructure was in place before this season even started.
“It’s just about work ethic and a belief and understanding the value of hard work,” Applebee said. “It starts at home and we try to add to it as much as we can. They believed in our process and the preparation and understanding you’ve got to respond on game day. It’s always about that next-play mentality, and they showed that beautifully today.”
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.
This story was originally published November 30, 2019 at 6:15 PM.
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