Shawnee Dispatch

Mill Valley sits alone atop the Kaw Valley League standings after the defense shut down Bonner Springs’ high-octane offense in a 23-9 victory.

The Jaguars (5-0) limited the Braves (4-1) to just 183 yards of total offense.

BSHS came in averaging 51 points per game and was limited to three field goals: 43-, 41- and 21-yarders from Luciano Fasani.

MVHS head coach Joel Applebee said the game plan going into every game is to stop the run, which they did.

“The play of the game was the way the defense played all game,” Applebee said.

Braves running back Trevon Mason came into the game rushing for 130 and 2.5 touchdowns per game, but was held to just 18 yards.

BSHS quarterback Jordan Jackson was the only player, besides the kickers, who had any semblance of success, rushing for 97 yards on 16 carries. However, he completed only 33 percent of his passes and had two critical interceptions.

“We knew we wanted to contain Jackson. He does a lot of very good things. We wanted to limit the number of big plays he had,” Applebee said.

In the third quarter, with Mill Valley leading 10-6, Micah Clarke picked off Jackson. The Jaguars were left with just 17 yards to the end zone and three plays later Tyler Garrison punched it in from two yards out.

It was a clear turning point in the game, which took more than 20 hours to complete.

The two teams kicked off on Friday, played for two hours before being halted for lighting waited another two hours to see if they could get the game in.

Play was halted at 8:02 p.m., but Bonner Springs loaded up the bus and head home at 9:57 p.m.

When play resumed Saturday at 2 p.m., Mill Valley held a 17-6 lead with 9:43 remaining in the game.

BSHS head coach Lucas Aslin was upset about the loss, but was even more upset about not being able to play the entire game in one night.

“I’m more upset we didn’t get it in last night and we had to come back,” Aslin said. “It’s not fun to lose a game, but this is going be a good one to lose. It’s going to humble us enough to understand we need to make some fixes. I’d rather lose now than later.”

Applebee echoed those sentiments.

“You never want to come back and finish this,” Applebee said. “It’s hard on the kids. They have to be able to react and refocus. Football is a game of routine. When you break that routine your mindset changes.”

MVHS scored off a touchdown from Zach Hanna, a 23-yard pass from Ty Bruce in the first quarter.

Bruce came in for starter Logan Koch, who is banged up and is considered day-to-day.

In the fourth quarter, Christian Jegen picked off BSHS’ Jordan Jackson and returned it to the Braves 21-yard line. Seven plays later, Jegen punched it in on a four-yard run that he bounced to the outside. Connor Mills also connected on a 37-yard field goal.

Bruce ran the ball 29 times for 95 yards. Jegen had eight touches for 86 yards.

MVHS will travel to Piper for a 7 p.m. Friday game.