Center Stage Sports

06/30/2026

The Mill Valley Jaguar Football is taking a break from strength and conditioning this week for a KSHSAA mandated break. But they will be back and ready to go next week. Here's an article I wrote about the Jags summer weight program. I hope you enjoy it. You can read it here or check it out on my website: www.centerstagesports.org

Worth the weights

By Todd Habiger

Quinn Vaka has no idea I’m stalking him.
For two years I’ve wanted to do a story about the Jaguars strength program but couldn’t find my lede.
I focus on Quinn hoping the senior offensive lineman will give me a good visual to start with.
I’m hoping for something like this:
Beads of sweat form on the brow of senior offensive lineman Quinn Vaka. They roll down his face past gritted teeth as Vaka’s muscles strain against the weights. He grunts and groans as he pushes hundreds of pounds of metal upward, before finally, triumphally, lifting the weight over his head.
Not bad right?
One problem. Quinn doesn’t sweat. I follow him for 20 minutes and don’t see one drop.
He also doesn’t struggle with the weights. In fact he makes it look effortless. No grunts. No groans. Nothing.
I finally give up. Quinn’s a boring lifter. He made lifting look routine, easy. No sweat.
I try to salvage the situation. I look to Ryder Farley. He’s got his shirt off and does look a little sweaty. Plus he has tons of weight on his bar. But he also makes his lifts look effortless. There’s nothing here for me.
I’m desperate now, looking around trying to find that visual I need. But these guys might as well be doing data entry. This is their job and they’re doing it easily and without drama.
Can someone just give me a screeching “Hell, yeah!” for God’s sake?
Clink, clank, thud. Thanks guys.
I’m stuck.
Jaguars head coach Joel Applebee has said lifting weights and getting stronger and faster is one of the keys to the program’s success. This is a story that needs to be told and I can’t figure out a way to do it without putting readers to sleep.

The moment he was hired Applebee put an emphasis on weight lifting. The kids bought in right away, lifting before school during the season.
He recalls after the first season, the kids asked him if they were going to continue to lift in the off season, and he told them they absolutely would be lifting year-round.
What is commonplace today was a novel idea back in 2010.
“It took a little time for the kids to understand what the expectation was. It just took some encouragement, and having them see the improvements in themselves in the weight room was a big part of it,” Applebee said.

The Jaguars weight room is one of the finest in the state. Applebee is proud of it. He insists that it stay clean and players treat it with respect.
The strength program for the Jaguars football team is designed and run by assistant head coach (and offensive line coach) Jamie Resseguie.
“Mostly we’re trying to create a well-rounded, functional young athlete — not always specifically geared towards building football players, but more geared towards increasing each one of their individual performances,” he said.
On the football field Coach Ress is a bundle of energy. He’s loud and animated. In the weight room, he’s more reserved. He watches the kids. Steps in, if needed, to offer tips.
One of the aspects of the Jaguars strength program that has changed over the years has been the use of technology.
“Technology’s made things way more efficient in collecting data on individuals and using that date to help them get better,” Resseguie explains.
I flashback to the opening of the 70s TV show, “The Six Million Dollar Man.”
“Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. … Better than he was before. Better ... stronger ... faster.”
In a way, that sums up the goal of the Jaguars strength program: getting better, stronger, faster.
When they’re on the practice field, many of the Jaguar players wear Catapults, an electronic thingamajig (this may or may not be an accurate scientific term) that captures all kinds of information...
The Catapult tracks top speed, player movement such as forward, lateral and backward movement, jumping, maximum acceleration and deceleration, total distance traveled, and much more.
Coach Resseguie said the tracking gets the guys “feeling their best version of themselves by Friday, by making sure we're monitoring what they're doing Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.”
The early morning strength and conditioning program also helps the boys develop a good work ethic, and as they see the results of their hard work they become more aggressive and confident in the way their bodies move.

Senior running back Max Piva is a brute. If he can’t run past you he has no problem running through you. He’s a bruiser and can make defenders wonder if they’re the hitter or hittee.
Max has seen the benefits of the Jaguar strength program first hand.
“The strength program has made me a lot healthier and stronger and has contributed to me being able to have success on the field,” he said. “All the work we put in makes it so we have a lot of power, whether we are blocking, tackling or running someone over.”
Waking up early and hitting the weights can be difficult, he said, but the players realize that it’s necessary if they want to be the best players they can be.
He credits the strength program with helping him enhance his natural ability and develop as a player.
“I realized last year that I had become a lot harder to tackle, and also when I’m blocking, I have a lot more strength,” he said.
Defenders won’t argue that. As a junior, Max emerged as one of the top running backs in the state with 1,812 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns.

Teddy Danielson’s high school football career is just getting started. The incoming freshman has experienced a lot of success as a young player in middle school, helping his team win two Kaw Valley League championships. But high school football is a completely different thing.
Teddy didn’t come into the program cold. His older brother played for the Jaguars and struggled his freshman year. He offered Teddy some advice: get your butt in shape.
“I took his advice and got in better shape than I ever have been, and that’s helped me a lot,” he said.
Teddy said the early morning workouts were a challenge at the start of summer, but now they’ve become routine. He realizes this is the cost of being a football power in Kansas. In just a few short weeks he’s already noticed changes.
“The first week I was pretty tired after conditioning but lately I’ve noticed myself getting significantly better. And in the weight room I’ve worked my way up in weights.”
For Teddy, the best part of the strength program is going through it with his buddies that he’s played with for years.
“I enjoy the camaraderie of our team and everybody just hyping each other up in the weight room with the music blasting,” he said. “At Mill Valley we don’t just lift weights. We lift each other up, which I think is really special.”

After the upper classmen finish with the weight lifting part of their conditioning I follow them to the football stadium where they do some running, acceleration and agility drills for about a half hour. As they finish up I glance over at Quinn. Nope, still no sweat.

Center Stage Sports in a site dedicated to the promotion of Mill Valley High School sports. It is not officially affiliated with with Mill Valley High School.

06/19/2026

Growing up Jaguar

By Todd Habiger

The thumping sound of hip hop music nearly drowns out the clink, clank and thuds of the weight room. Occasionally a primal scream will rise above it all.
There’s not a lot of smiles on the faces in the Mill Valley weight room. Mostly deep concentration as players adapt a workman-like attitude.
It’s not even 7 a.m. as the blood is pumping and muscles strain against their metal nemesis. No one is complaining. This is what they signed up for. For most of these guys they’ve been working toward this most of their lives. And it all started with the Junior Jaguars.

Mill Valley Jaguars head football coach Joel Applebee didn’t invent youth football in western Shawnee when he was hired in 2010. What he did was bring it under one banner.
“I wanted to establish a program where we had a draft and every kid had a chance to play,” he said. “That’s what was going to build our numbers. I wanted to keep kids interested in football.”
He also asked that youth coaches start adopting the high school playbook and terminology.
“If you can start teaching kids our terminology at the youth level, that’s going to be really big as they advance through our program. That way we’re not teaching them that stuff in high school. They already know it.”
One can’t really argue with the success the high school team has had under Applebee’s reign. Seven state champions speak for themselves and Mill Valley has established itself as one of the power programs in Kansas.
The Junior Jaguar program has been a huge part of that success. More than 300 kids sign up to play annually and it provides a pipeline of talent that goes straight to the high school.
At the Junior Jaguar level, wins and losses are irrelevant.
“I want lots of kids out there enjoying the game of football,” Applebee said. “Nobody is going to win a state championship in second, third, fourth and fifth grade. The idea is to keep building kids and show them what our culture is like so they have a good understanding when they come into high school.”

Senior offensive lineman Quinn Vaka started playing football as a Junior Jaguar in the fourth grade. A little hero worship got him to suit up. Quinn’s older brother Spencer started playing football in middle school.
“I always wanted to be like him,” Vaka said. “So when he started playing I wanted to be part of the program too.”
Vaka said that as a Junior Jaguar, Mill Valley Night Lights and having all the high school players watch and cheer him on was a highlight for him every year.
“I loved it when my brother and his friends would watch me play and hype me up. It was so cool,” he said.
Vaka is the most experienced offensive lineman on this year’s Jaguar team. He said the Junior Jaguar program was integral in his development as a football player.
“It helped me a lot. We ran the same plays we do now. We’re not learning the plays as much as we are learning technique. We’ve known these plays since we were little kids,” he said.
Being the oldest child in his family, Stone Zambo didn’t have anyone to help pave the way for him. He made his own path.
Stone started playing football in kindergarten. Along the way he not only found he loved the game but also a second family.
“Being on the Junior Jaguars team with all the other kids gave me a brotherhood,” Zambo said. “We’ve been playing the game together forever so that brought us closer as we grew and we have developed a chemistry.”
That brotherhood helped keep Zambo going when things got tough as he started high school.
“I didn’t think it would be this hard but it’s definitely gotten easier as the years went by,” he said. “What you put in is what you get out. It wasn’t easy but it made me into the player that I am today,” he said.
The player Zambo is today is an all league tight end and one of the Jaguar’s leaders on the field.
Like many players coming through the Junior Jaguars program, Zambo played a variety of positions. He played quarterback, defensive end, linebacker before settling in at tight end.
“The coaches decided that I would be most successful at tight end,” he said. “I also thought that it was the best position for me and I’ve grown into the role, learning more and more about it each year.”
Zambo says football has given him so much and taught him many life lessons.
“Whenever you’re going through adversity, never give up and keep going because you’re strong enough to get through these battles,” he said. “Nothing lasts forever. Everything is temporary.”

Holden Applebee didn’t just grow up in the Junior Jaguars program, he was practically born into it. With his father being the head coach for the high school team it was pretty much a given that Holden would be a Junior Jaguar when he was old enough.
“Everything in our family has centered around Mill Valley football,” Holden said. “It’s been really cool to be able to grow up in the program.”
Although his father was a huge influence on him, Holden was never coached by Joel Applebee until he reached high school. He had a variety of coaches over the years but said each one of them knew that the endgame was to get the kids ready to eventually compete for state championships.
“All the Junior Jag coaches understand what we’re doing in high school and they teach that to the kids so they’re ready,” he said. “Everything we do in high school is done at the Junior Jag level.”
Holden said that the majority of the guys he first started playing football with as a Junior Jaguar are still playing today.
“You build a lot of chemistry and become like a brotherhood playing all these years with the same guys,” he said. “It makes playing with them a lot more special and makes you want to work harder for the guy next to you knowing that they have been working just as hard with you throughout the years.”

Barrett Carbajo was a late comer to the Junior Jaguars program, joining as a sixth grader. Still, the lessons he learned became invaluable as he worked his way through middle school and onto the high school team.
“The most important thing I learned is that everybody has a role, no matter if you’re on the field or on the sideline, you just have to fill your role and do the best you can at whatever your job is,” he said.
Carbajo started off as a tight end and linebacker in Junior Jaguars before converting to a defensive end in high school.
“When I got to high school the coaches found a better fit for me to get on the field faster and help me develop as a player,” he said.
It’s hard to argue with the results. As a sophomore last year, Carbajo found himself starting key games for the Jaguars down the stretch and into the playoffs when starter Josh Garcia went down with an injury. Carbajo stepped up and filled in nicely before Garcia returned to action.
Carbajo said as a Junior Jaguar he never realized the dedication and hard work that went into becoming a state power. But it didn’t take him long to completely buy into the program.
“The biggest shock for me was finding out the amount of work that goes into football when no one is watching — the offseason weights, the summer conditioning — all that happens behind the scenes.”

Freshman Nash Borchardt has been a Jaguar for as long as he can remember. He started playing for the Junior Jaguars in the first grade and last season was a ball boy for the team. This year he’s aiming to quarterback the freshman team.
Nash’s older brother Davis helped pave the way for Nash.
“I saw my brother out there playing and I was like, I want to do that,” he said.
Nash says being part of the Junior Jaguars program has helped prepare him for high school since he knows all the formations and plays. Every year was another year of building up his football knowledge on the Junior Jaguar foundation.
Having Davis go before him helped Nash navigate each level of football as he moved through the Junior Jaguar program and onto middle school and now high school.
“He gave me an honest rundown of how everything works,” Nash said.
Nash said he’s enjoyed every step of the way because he’s experienced them with his closest friends.
“It’s great being able to have fun with my friends every day, doing something that I love, and getting better every day,” he said.

Note that this article can also be found on my website: www.centerstagesports.org

Check it out all my past articles there as well as new content as I create it.

Mill Valley Jaguar Football

06/16/2026

More photos from Mill Valley Jaguar Football today. Conditioning and middle school camp. Not a ton of photos from each but you can find a few more at www.centerstageseniors.com by clicking on the Mill Valley Sports link.

06/16/2026

Some more black and white photos from Mill Valley Jaguar Football weights today. I really like the grittiness of black and white contrasting what these players are doing to transform their bodies. For more photos, go to www.centerstageseniors.com and click on the Mill Valley Sports link.

06/08/2026

I captured a few photos from the GKCFCA All Star game — mostly Jaxon Garcia shots — as well Coach Applebee's Hall of Fame induction and Coach Zaldivar's Assistant Coach of the Year award. Photos are free to download. Go to www.centerstageseniors.com and click on the Mill Valley Sports Link to view them all. Mill Valley Jaguar Football

06/06/2026

Photos from the Mill Valley freshman drills on June 4. There's a few in the photo gallery. Go to www.centerstageseniors.com and click on the Mill Valley Sports link.

06/06/2026

Here's a photo dump from June 4 in the Mill Valley Jaguar Football weight room. Find more photos by going to www.centerstageseniors.com and clicking on the Mill Valley Sports Link.

06/06/2026

Mill Valley Jaguar Football head coach Joel Applebee was inducted into the Greater KC Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame at halftime of the GKCFCA All Star game on June 5. Applebee is a coaching legend with 7 state championship during his 15 years at Mill Valley, building the program into a state power house. If you haven't ready my story about Coach Applebee check it out at www.centerstagesports.org

06/06/2026

Mill Valley Jaguar Football freshman head coach Dean Zaldivar was named the Kansas assistant coach of the year before the Greater KC Football Coaches Association All Star game at Mill
Valley on June 5. It's a well deserved award for one of the most organized human beings on the planet. Congrats to Coach Zaldivar.

06/05/2026

Senior portraits, anyone?

I have been getting a lot of messages asking me how to schedule senior portraits, so I figured I would make a post that answers a lot of your questions.

Here's the scoop:
• I'm just the sports photography guy. My wife, Lori, is the senior portrait photographer. Her business is Center Stage Seniors, and she photographs a ton of Mill Valley kids, and other kids in the area, and has for many years.
• Lori's web site gives you a lot of info, all of her prices, how to schedule, and more. I will post a link in the comments.
• She loves to photograph the local kids just like I do because we love our community.
• Below are just a few of the local athletes she photographed from the Class of 26.
• Football players should schedule a summer photoshoot, because once school starts, it's hard to find the time for senior portraits since the guys are always chasing that state championship well into November.
• If you have questions, you can text her at (9*3) 271-0703.