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By Attey Field

On the sideline, defensive back Mark Bauer gets on one knee to recognize the seniors being acknowledged on senior night.

After trailing by 14 points with just four minutes in the first quarter, the football team rallied against Bentonville in the second half with a tie of 21-21 but ran out of time, resulting in their first loss of the season. 

The final score was 35-28, and the Jaguars are now 2-1. The Bentonville Tigers are a 7A team from Arkansas, while Mill Valley plays 6A.

“When it came down to it we had too many penalties that’s why we lost the game,” running back Quin Wittenauer said. “We just got to clean it up. They won more plays than us.”

On Senior Night, three seniors scored touchdowns for the Jaguars — quarterback Cooper Marsh, Wittenauer and wide receiver Jacob Hartman.. Quarterback Cooper Marsh threw for 152 yards with two one yard rushing touchdowns, one in the first quarter, and the other with one second left in the second half.

Wittenauer rushed for 135 yards and a touchdown. Hartman added 93 receiving yards and a touchdown. “After Hartman’s long touchdown reception, he was excited to get the team energized.

“I was really pumped because we needed a big play,” Jacob Hartman said. “I think we played good, but we just need to fix the little things. Personally, I can work on blocking more physically.”

With the pandemic, the team has been making changes to prepare for the football season.

“The mitigation we have to take, the protocol we have to follow. The kids have been doing a great job with it. That’s kind of the biggest change,” said head coach Joel Applebee. “As far as football goes, as far as what we are doing, practices are a little different. But in the end, it really comes down, we are playing football on the field and those things pretty much stay the same.”

Due to COVID-19, the school has limited the amount of students and parents able to attend.

“It’s pretty weird, but all fans or no fans won’t change the way we play,” said Hartman.

Although schools cannot host pep rallies or spirit weeks, Wittenauer says there are other ways to show school spirit.

“Stream the game, post on social media,” Quin Wittenauer said. “Just let us know you’re watching.”

Students can show their school spirit for next Friday’s game when the team plays Lawrence Free State in Lawrence at 7 p.m.