Gallery • 20 Photos

By Sophie Rosen

Junior Brody Flaming runs with the ball.

The varsity football team defeated Blue Valley Northwest on Thursday, Sept. 8 with a 38-19 win. The Jaguars continued their winning streak 2-0 to start out the season on top.

With the help of his teammates, sophomore running back Cameron Young scored the first touchdown of the game, starting the Jaguars out 7-0 against BVNW.

“I thought it was a big deal since it was my first touchdown. My offensive line works really hard, and I know it meant a lot to them to get me into the end zone. It was pretty exciting,” Young said.

Just one minute after Young’s touchdown, senior wide receiver Ben Hartman scored the second touchdown of the night. Less than a minute after his touchdown, BVNW scored their first touchdown. Hartman went on to score two more touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters.

“It was a team effort. [Junior] Brody [Flaming] did a great job leading the team just like last week, and getting us all motivated,” Hartman said.

This is Young’s first year on the varsity team. There are differences between being on junior varsity last year and varsity this year for Young.

“Last year you could definitely tell who the leaders were, and this year we kind of have to start over,” Young said. People are trying to rise and become those leaders. It’s been more of a new bonding [from] last year since all the team last year has been playing for a while longer.”

With only 28 seconds left in the second quarter, the Jaguars ended the first half strong with a touchdown from senior tight end Brady Garrison.

For Hartman, the game changing element was the defense.

“I’d have to say the defense [was a defining component] all throughout the game because first half, offense wasn’t executed like we wanted. [There were] big turnovers from [senior] Joel Donn, [junior] Evan Rice, and the rest of the defense. They really helped out just like last week,” said Hartman.

In the fourth quarter, with 5:31 left in the game, sophomore kicker Jack Matchette kicked a field goal to earn the Jaguars three more points against BVNW. With only two minutes left, the Huskies scored their second touchdown of the game making the final score 38-19.

Although the team won their second game in a row, Hartman said that there are things the team could still improve on.

“Really, we didn’t play as well as we thought we would. [Head] coach [Joel Applebee] said there would be a lot of adversity this week because [of] the change of the time and the game [being] on Thursday. The first half we were sluggish and then second half we turned it around,” Hartman said.

The Jaguars will play at home against Blue Valley SW High School on Friday, Sept. 16.