It so often goes that the winner of the turnover battle is the team that is victorious. That was very much the case for two-time defending Class 5A champion Mill Valley on Friday in its season opener against Gardner-Edgerton.
The Jaguars scored 28 unanswered points in the second half thanks in large part to capitalizing on Gardner-Edgerton turnovers, which helped secure a 35-14 over the Trailblazers.
“Ultimately, I think it comes down to the work our kids do in the weight room and the conditioning they do. It really showed up in the second half for us,” Mill Valley coach Joel Applebee said. “In the first half, we just kind of killed ourselves. I’ll give Gardner all the credit in the world; a lot of their kids played hard. Their coach definitely does a great job.”
The Jaguars looked the part of a state champion in the first quarter, taking advantage on prime field position following a mishandled Gardner-Edgerton punt. Mill Valley took over at the Gardner-Edgerton 17-yard line and scored six plays later when junior quarterback Hayden Jay s hit enior wide receiver Kendrick Jones for a 6-yard touchdown pass.
The opening drive touchdown was all Mill Valley could muster in the first half, though, as Gardner-Edgerton took a 14-7 lead into the locker room.
The Trailblazers evened the score when sophomore quarterback Colton Hawkinson found the edge and dashed 56 yards for a touchdown with eight minutes to go in the second quarter.
“I’m very proud of him, and I’m proud of all our guys. We have a lot of young guys out there,” Gardner-Edgerton coach Jesse Owen said. “Colton had to step in their on short notice and get thrown in against a good, quality opponent. He handled himself about as well as you possibly can in that situation. He’d be the first guy to tell you that he wishes he could have some play over, but we too made some mistakes and that starts with me.”
Hawkinson and the Trailblazers dialed up a little bit of trickery just before the half to break the 7-7 tie. The sophomore quarterback threw a lateral to senior running back Jake McClure, who then found junior tight end Austin Buie wide open for a 53-yard touchdown pass.
“Jake did a great job of keeping it alive because the throw to him was low. He did a great job of keeping his knee off the ground,” Owen said. “He’s the ultimate competitor. He does everything for us—returns, kicks, runs, throws. I’m glad he’s on our team.”
Trailing the Trailblazers was a feeling that the Jaguars had last season as well, and Jay didn’t need to be reminded of it. Jay filled in for an injured Cooper Marsh last year in the Jaguars’ home loss to the Trailblazers, but he did his best to make amends for it in the second half of Friday’s contest.
The 6-foot-1, 178-pound quarterback scored on runs of 1 and 2 yards in the third quarter. Sophomore Tristan Baker added a 1-yard touchdown run in the third to help flip the momentum.
Jay made sure to give credit where it was due, as the Mill Valley defense gave him a short field to work with on a couple of occasions in the third. Junior defensive tackle Grant Rutkowski paced the Jaguars with three sacks and a fumble recovery that set up the Jaguars inside the 10. Sophomore Truman Griffith also recovered a fumble close to midfield in the third.
“It was great,” Rutkowski said. “We came out together as a team in the second half after kind of a short first half and just balled out.”
Rutkowski and Griffith fit right in on the defensive line with returning starters Cole Moore and Aidan Shaffer to consistently get pressure in the Gardner-Edgerton backfield. Applebee is excited to see how the Jaguars’ front four can build on its performance in the season opener.
“All offseason, Grant was great in the weight room. He did a great job all summer long,” Applebee said. “He’s a kid that played for us and practiced last year, but ended up getting injured early and banged up a little bit. He didn’t get the playing time he probably should’ve because of the injuries. We knew what he had in him and we were excited to see it tonight in the second half especially.”
Applebee added, “And Truman, he’s just a stud. He’s got a lot to learn, which is awesome. At the same time, he’s just going to get better and better.”
The Jaguars kept on rolling in the fourth. With 9:30 remaining, Jay rumbled to the end zone for a 28-yard touchdown run to give Mill Valley a 21-point edge.
“Our offensive line played really good today. In the second half, we got the run game going,” Jay said. “That last touchdown run, credit goes to (tight end) Jared Napoli for coming around and getting a key block. I was able to run behind him untouched for a touchdown.”
The Jaguars (1-0) will take on Olathe South at 7 p.m. Friday for their home opener. The Trailblazers (0-1) will try to bounce back against Olathe North at 7 p.m. Friday at the Olathe District Activity Center.
