PITTSBURG — One phrase, three words. 

“Leave your legacy.”

That’s been the mantra for Mill Valley over the last 13 years under head coach Joel Applebee. The coaching staff has repeated it so often that it’s all quarterback Hayden Jay and the rest of the Jaguars seniors could think about throughout championship week.

Jay even said it was the primary goal for the Class of 2023 players going into their final high school football game Saturday at Carnie Smith Stadium in Pittsburg.

“One thing Coach (Applebee) always harped on was we’re standing on the shoulders of the teams that came before us,” Jay said. “They’ve set the tradition from the ground up and we’re on the shoulders of them. We just want to continue it and continue our own legacy.”

This Mill Valley (12-1) team left quite a legacy for future Jaguars football players to build on as the team earned a 28-14 victory over Maize (12-1) for the second straight season. Mill Valley’s victory also completed a four-peat, the first program to accomplish that feat in Class 5A, as the Jaguars took home their sixth title in eight years. Applebee holds a 115-36 record during his tenure at Mill Valley.

“It’s almost indescribable,” Applebee said. “I’m just so proud of these seniors, so proud of this program’s coaches. It takes a lot.

“I’m super proud of our school, our community. It’s a pretty special place.”
 

Applebee said his senior leadership is “unmatched” in how much work went into their preparation and what they accomplished via that hard work. He also gave a nod to the previous senior classes over the last decade and the role they played in the program reaching this point of six championships in the last eight years.

“Each senior class led to this,” Applebee said. “We’re just going to celebrate this one and have a lot of fun with it. Then we’ll let it sink in. Let these seniors be proud of what they’ve accomplished in their four years. It’s really unbelievable.”

While it was the seniors who led the team, it was a junior with limited varsity experience who stepped up to push the Jaguars over the top in the championship game.

Mill Valley went three-and-out on its first drive, but won the field position battle as a Jay punt pinned Maize at its own 4-yard line. The team’s second drive still nearly stalled just outside of the red zone before a Jay screen pass to junior running back Tristan Baker picked up 14 yards, converting a fourth-and-long.

But a false start and couple stops by the Maize defense turned that into a third-and-8 from the nine. That’s when the Jaguars went to junior wide receiver Davion Harris on a jet sweep. With the defense eyeing a possible pitch to Baker on the edge, Harris cut upfield and dragged multiple defenders with him across the goal line to put Mill Valley up 7-0 midway through the first quarter.

“I’m proud of (Harris) because he didn’t play a lot early in the year, but he kept fighting,” Applebee said. “He was our scout team player of the week numerous times throughout the year.”
 

Harris only had three receptions and four total touches heading into the state final. Most of those happened in the last two playoff games, after the team already had things taken care of on the scoreboard.

But some injuries opened up a sizable space in the game plan in the state final for Harris, who said his teammates helped build up his confidence heading into the big game.

“They were like, “Get in there Davion,’” Harris said. “I just gelled. It was like an ocean, I started waving.”

The Mill Valley defense was also like the ocean, but the “Land Sharks” brought tidal waves against the Maize offense. The suffocating defense lasted for almost the entire game, but it was especially brutal in the first quarter.

Maize had only two offensive plays on Mill Valley’s side of the field in the first period and those lead to the Eagles punting on fourth-and-long from the 48-yard line.

Shortly after that, Mill Valley drove inside the 10-yard line again before settling for a field goal try from kicker Kenton Laughman. The right upright sent Laughman’s attempt sailing back toward him.

After a couple of short drives for each team, Maize senior quarterback Avery Johnson got things going for the Eagles. 

The Kansas State University commit strung together multiple highlight-reel plays on his team’s third possession, including a 21-yard run on a scramble to convert a third-and-9 from the Mill Valley 39-yard line.  Two plays later, Johnson ran into the endzone untouched on a 4-yard rushing touchdown to tie the game at 7-all.
 

That’s when Mill Valley turned on the jets.

Facing a third-and-8 on the Jags own 31-yard line, Hayden Jay connected with senior wideout Preston Oliver down the middle of the field for a 69-yard touchdown pass to regain the seven-point lead.

The Jaguars defense forced a three-and-out to get the ball back with a minute left in the second quarter. They would only need a fraction of that time.

Maize pass rushers had Jay in their sights on a second-down play near midfield, only for the sneaky senior quarterback to use his legs to avoid their grasp. He quickly found his new favorite target waiting near the sideline for an outlet pass.

“He was getting smashed,” Harris said. “There were two lineman right there, there’s no way he could see me. He had to trust me, just throw it and we brought it in.”

Harris not only pulled in the pass, he proceeded to break a tackle and burst down the sideline before diving into the endzone. The play gave Mill Valley 14-point swing in a minute of half of game time as the Jaguars took a 21-7 lead into the locker room at half.

Jay said that the Jaguars entered the game expecting Maize to sell out against the run, so the plan was to utilize play-action plays to open up players in the passing game.

“Davion just happened to be the guy that ran the routes that got open and he made a hell of a play on the sideline,” Jay said. “I’m so proud of him.”
 

If that momentum swing was not enough, Mill Valley also received the opening kickoff of the second half. Senior safety Mikey Bergeron returned the ball 25 yards on the play before stepping out of bounds near midfield. A Maize player tackled him late, causing a 15-yard penalty that immediately put the Jags on the Maize 42-yard line.

The Jags fed the ball to Baker five times for 31 yards to get to first-and-goal from the 5-yard line. Maize stuffed the Jags on two straight run attempts, but Jay floated a pass to Harris for another touchdown to go up 28-7 five minutes into the third quarter.

“That was awesome,” Harris said. “Right as I scored, I thought how that’ll put us over the top. If we get a three-score game in the second half, it’s over.”

However, Maize did respond quickly with a scoring drive on its next possession as Tayveon Williams found an open lane for a 32-yard rushing touchdown.

Mill Valley chewed up some clock on the next possession by converting two third-and-long plays, but the Eagles followed up the second of those by stripping the ball away from Baker and Caden Miranda recovering the ball at the Maize 33-yard line.

Johnson quickly led Maize across midfield, but the Jaguars defense forced a fourth-and-2 from the 36-yard line. The Eagles called Johnson’s number on a QB keeper, but Mill Valley swallowed him up a half-yard shy of the first-down marker to force the turnover on downs.
 

The Jaguars chewed up nearly four minutes of game time before their drive stalled out. The Eagles blocked the Jay punt to take over on the Mill Valley 34-yard line. Johnson threw a six-yard pass to Bryce Cohoon to convert a third-and-long, but his next pass was a shot to the endzone, which Bergeron pulled down for an interception and a touchback.

The Maize defense quickly forced a third-and-1 situation for Mill Valley from its own 39-yard line, but Jay kept the ball on a read-option to find open space for a 12-yard gain up the right sideline. Baker rushed for another first down, allowing Mill Valley to go to the victory formation and run out the rest of the clock for the 28-14 victory.

After keeping the Maize offense to two touchdowns for the second straight state title game, and allowing no other points in this postseason, Applebee gave a lot of the credit to the team’s defensive coordinator Drew Hudgins.

“Our defense was unbelievable this year,” Applebee said. “What Coach Hudgins does on that side of the ball, preparing those kids, it’s just truly special. He has a special bond with those kids and he gets them prepared to play at a high level.”

A high enough level that Applebee said the defense “probably goes down in the history books.”

“I’d love to see a better defense (play) sometime, you know. Very proud of him,” Applebee said.

Many of the defensive players, including Bergeron, were also quick to point to Hudgins as the key factor in the defense only allowing 63 points in 13 games.

“Honestly, it just comes down to our preparation every week,” Bergeron said. “Coach Hudgins sets us up every single week with the right coverages and our scouting is just the best it's been. He gives us everything we need to be successful.”

Bergeron and Jay were both ecstatic about finishing off their Jaguars football careers by completing the four-peat.

“This is a fantastic feeling,” Jay said. “The work that this team has put in, the work that these seniors have put in from Day 1, starting in January in the weight room, all coming to fruition like this is unbelievable.”
 

CLASS 5A CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

MILL VALLEY 28, MAIZE 14
 
Mill Valley (12-1) ... 7 ... 14 ... 7 ... 0 ... -- ... 28
 
Maize (12-1) ... 0 ... 7 ... 7 ... 0 ... -- ... 14

Mill Valley — Davion Harris 9-yard run (Kenton Laughman kick)
 
Maize — Avery Johnson 4-yard run (Mason Teague kick)
 
Mill Valley — Preston Oliver 69-yard pass from Hayden Jay (Laughman kick)
 
Mill Valley — Harris 56-yard pass from Jay (Laughman kick)
 
Mill Valley — Harris 5-yard pass from Jay (Laughman kick)
 
Maize — Tayveon Williams 32-yard run (Teague kick)
 
TEAM STATISTICS
 
First downs … 16 … 13
Rushes-yards … 44-158 … 26-146
Passing yards … 189 … 130
Passing (Comp-Att-INT) … 7-13-0 … 14-24-1
Total plays-yards … 57-347 … 50-276
Fumbles-lost … 0-0 … 0-0
Penalties-yards … 3-20 … 8-65
Punts-Avg … 3-89 … 5-168
 
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
 
RUSHING -- Mill Valley: Baker 32-117, Jay, 8-34, Harris 1-9, Hayes Miller 1-2 Team 2-minus 4. Maize: Johnson 11-71, Williams 7-52, Carter 8-23.
 
PASSING -- Mill Valley: Jay 7-13-0, 189 yards. Maize: Johnson 14-24-1, 130 yards 
 
RECEIVING -- Mill Valley: Harris 3-72, Miller 2-34, Oliver 1-69, Baker 1-14. Maize: Cohoon 6-38, Doty 4-63, Hayes 1-15, Carter 1-8, Martin 1-6, Williams 1-0.