Last night the Jaguar football team started off the season with a massive win, with a final score of 42-13 against the Olathe Northwest Ravens.
Just minutes into the first quarter, senior running back Tristan Baker scored the first touchdown of the season for the second year in a row.
“I mean, the first touchdown of the season’s always great to have. It’s two years in a row that I have gotten that, so it’s pretty special to me,” Baker said.
Despite the win, flags on the play and close call decisions highlight the improvements that can be made to the team in coming weeks. According to senior offensive lineman, Mason Kemp, there’s work to be done.
“We just [have to] get better,” Kemp said. “We have to get in the film room, get to practice and work on those little things.”
Junior defensive back, Clayton Sondgeroth agrees, acknowledging his own missteps in the game.
“We obviously had to get better mentally,” Sondgeroth said. “I mean, I know me personally, I had a couple of slip ups.” We’ve just got to take it day by day and continue to improve. — Tristan Baker
Though the team has room for improvement, players and coaches are optimistic about the season as a whole. Sondgeroth expresses these sentiments.
“I think our biggest success was definitely the team’s effort,” Sondgeroth said. “Yeah, we may not have been perfect at all times, but effort makes up for lack of discipline, an I mean, we showed that today.”
According to freshmen head coach Dean Zaldivar, this year’s varsity team has plenty of potential to continue Mill Valley’s winning legacy.
“We’ve got a lot of fresh guys who haven’t played a lot of in the past,” Zaldivar said. “But we’ve got a lot of good, solid sophomore classes who are very talented and work hard. A lot of juniors are stepping up as well.”
Baker expressed enthusiasm for the upcoming season.
“There’s room to improve,” Baker said. “We’ve just got to take it day by day and continue to improve.”
