Mill Valley Jaguars win 5th straight Kansas state championship in high school football

Kansas City Star
·2 min read

For about half of Saturday’s Class 5A state-title high school football game at Pitt State University in Pittsburg, Kansas, it looked as if Mill Valley might best buckle up for another back-and-forth battle.

Then the Jaguars settled in and did what they do ... which, for the fifth straight year, is win state championships.

Mill Valley (11-2) rolled Kapaun Mt. Carmel 62-37 to claim its fifth straight state title, and seventh overall since 2015 — all under head coach Joel Applebee.

A week ago, Mill Valley needed some last-second heroics to earn a thrilling 48-47 victory. The Jaguars beat Blue Valley Southwest on the very last play of the game in the semifinals.

This time, Mill Valley kept up the pressure — and the scoring — throughout the second half of the game.

The Jags trailed 30-27 with a minute to go in the first half after KMC scored on a short rush by running back Omari Elias. It was Elias’ third touchdown of the half and it came on fourth and goal.

Mill Valley scored in the final seconds of the opening half. Like Derby, the Jags elected to go for it on fourth down (from the KMC 18).

With 7 seconds left until halftime, MVHS quarterback Daniel Blaine fired an 18-yard pass to the right side of the end zone. Davion Harris hauled it in for a touchdown, and suddenly it was Mill Valley who’d be leading at halftime, 34-30.

The Jaguars kept the throttle down when play resumed in the third quarter, scoring three straight touchdowns. Jaden Scobee found the end zone on a 12-yard run, Blaine tallied a 3-yard keeper and Scobee scored his fourth touchdown of the day on a 3-yard run with 57 seconds left in the third period.

By game’s end, Scobee had racked up 300 rushing yards.

Mill Valley’s first TD of the afternoon was a Blaine-to-Harris connection that capped a seven-play, 65-yard drive. On the Jaguars’ ensuring possession, Scobee broke off a 51-yard touchdown run to make it 13-0.

But KMC (11-2) came back with a 67-yard touchdown by Elias. The Air Force commit rushed for 280 yards Saturday.

A safety and a touchdown gave the Crusaders a 16-13 lead at the end of the first quarter, and a 58-yard scamper by Elias made it 23-13 KMC.

But Scobee scored on a 45-yard run and Reginald Reece added a 1-yard scoring plunge to cap a four-play, 81-yard drive. That TD put Mill Valley ahead 27-23 with 3:31 remaining until halftime.