Senior Mason Kemp started playing football in fourth grade at left tackle. Kemp played the same position until sophomore year when he switched over to right tackle. Now 6-foot-7, 207 pounds, Kemp carries a 38-inch vertical, runs the 40-yard dash in 4.75 seconds and has a 3.95 GPA. He has started on the Mill Valley line for three years. Kemp has received football and basketball interest and has two collegiate offers on the hardwood.
Kemp is among Mill Valley’s most experienced players for the four-time defending 5A state champion Jaguars. Mill Valley’s strength comes up front. Kemp said he’s highly benefited from Mill Valley’s consistent film study, both in the morning and evening, to understand assignments on each play. The Jaguars have faced a different defense each of the first three weeks.
“Over those years, I have gained a lot of knowledge through it,” Kemp said. “And so I am where I am at today, because that’s where I started.”
Senior offensive lineman Gus Hawkins, in his second year with the program after he came from Scott City, is 6-6, 270 and has committed to Kansas State. The Jaguars’ experienced front, veteran tailback Tristan Baker and two mobile quarterbacks have yielded the highest run rate in coach Joel Applebee’s tenure.
“He came in and was immediately a big part of our offense, so it was really nice,” Kemp said of Hawkins. “So he is a really smart guy, we love working together. We talk through a lot of things, so we share opinions on different ways to block and how we think we should block things. Obviously, we go up and talk to the coaches about it, and then that’s when we figure things out.”
Mill Valley is 118-36 in 14 seasons under Applebee, including 6-0 in state championship games. In 2010, the Jaguars ran the ball on 67 percent of snaps. The rate oscillated between 59 and 57 percent for the next four seasons. Then, its steadily climbed from 70 to 69 to 70 to 76 percent last fall. The Jaguars have run 135 plays this year, 82 percent on the ground.
“Obviously, that’s the strength of our team, so we are going to rely on that,” Applebee said. “Until we get more comfortable and a little bit better as far as our reads go in the pass game, so that’s the biggest thing. We are definitely going to rely on our strength. We have a lot of experience up front.”
In a 42-13 season-opening victory versus Olathe Northwest, Mill Valley ran 57 times for 374 yards, the most carries in a game under Applebee. Since then, the Jags have posted 262 and 178 rushing yards.
“That’s kind of our jobs is to block for people and to make holes for people, so the running back has a clear path,” Kemp said. “So it’s fun, but it’s a lot of hard work for practice and especially in that game, it’s a lot of hard work, because it’s tiring.”
“Because we are constantly blocking, we are constantly trying to get a push, so it’s definitely hard working, but it’s also really fun and rewarding,” he added. “Because obviously we are a really good run team, so when we get a bunch of yards every game, it’s really nice to see that and know that we are a part of that.”
Applebee said senior center Jack Fulcher has done a “tremendous job” up front. Junior left guard Eric Penner is known for his strength and working hard in practice. Junior CJ Tilley in the rotation.
“He really communicates well with the line,” Applebee said of Fulcher. “A lot of things start with him. …I have been really pleased with really all of them.”
On Friday, 5A No. 1 Mill Valley (3-0) plays host to 6A No. 1 Gardner-Edgerton (3-0) in a marquee Sunflower League contest. Especially in the last two falls, the teams are highly known for physical play, run-heavy offenses and stout defenses. Perhaps no ’23 programs in the state can match Mill Valley’s and Gardner-Edgerton’s running games and defenses.
“They are definitely a physical team, that’s what I have noticed,” Kemp said. “Their physicality – from last year to this year, I have noticed every single play, they don’t really take a play off. Every single player on that defense, and every single player on that offense takes it 100 percent every single play.”
Gardner-Edgerton leads 6A in scoring offense with 47.3 points per game. The Trailblazers are third in the classification with 301 rushing yards a contest. Mill Valley is third in 5A in rushing with 271 yards per game.
In ’22, Gardner-Edgerton ran the ball on 88 percent of snaps, second-most in 6A, under coach Jesse Owen. The Trailblazers finished 9-4 and made a surprising run to the state championship game, where they lost, 21-20, in double overtime to Manhattan. Mill Valley won this matchup, 35-14, in ’22. The Jaguars have won nine straight contests.
For Garder-Edgerton, running back Dawson Kindler delivered 343 carries for 1,551 yards in 2022. He has mainly played defense in 2023. Bravin Padilla has stepped in at quarterback with 370 passing and 258 rushing yards. Syre Padilla has 156 rushing yards, and Randy Singleton has three receiving TDs.
“They are a big team,” Kemp said. “So they are going to bring that size, so that’s why we have got to match up with their physicality, and we already have that size to go up against them, so I think it just comes down to on that Friday night, who is going to be the more physical team.”
Baker has 50 rushes for 234 yards and two scores. Junior Connor Bohon and senior Daniel Blaine have both played quarterback and rushed for 140 and 137 yards, respectively.
“They all have really high IQs, so they know where they are supposed to be, but as long as we just do our job every single play, they will do theirs,” Kemp said.
Applebee has rarely played two quarterbacks and will continue to do so until someone emerges.
“Both of them have played at a really high level,” Applebee said. “They continue to get better and better in the pass game. And really, they’ve both been really good leaders in the program.”
Mill Valley again paces the classification in scoring defense and permitted 3.4 yards play. That’s just behind the historically great 2022 defense that permitted 3.3 yards a play. Mill Valley has new defensive coordinator Mike Strack, a former longtime Jaguar offensive assistant. Standout defensive lineman Truman Griffith has not played this fall and is out for the year with injury.
Junior defensive lineman Jayden Woods has 20 Division I offers, including Alabama and Oklahoma, according to recruiting industry leader 247 Sports. Woods has enjoyed a massive start with 14 tackles, five for loss, five quarterback hurries, two sacks, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and a pass defended. Defensive back Garrett Cronin, a key team leader, missed the first two weeks with injury and returned in Week 3. Senior Evan Seifert has 11 tackles, while junior Abram Shaffer and sophomore Hayden Heller both have 10.
“He has played extremely well,” Applebee said of Woods. “The thing about Jayden is, is he is going to bring the same intensity, the same passion, the same speed on every single snap, and that’s what makes him special. For a kid his age as a junior in high school, to really understand that, that’s what we try to get all the kids to do.”
*Special thanks to database, game-by-game information from MaxPreps, Sunflower SportsSolutions.com and Chuck Chaney*
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