What makes Mill Valley football’s Jayden Woods ‘one of most driven kids’ in recent years
Junior Jayden Woods does it all at Mill Valley High School — across multiple sports.
As a sophomore on the track and field team last year, Woods took home the 6A state title in discus, setting a personal-best of 170-3. In that same meet, he placed 8th in the shot put. Woods also qualified for the 6A state wrestling tournament in the 285-pound weight class.
He doesn’t even consider either “my main sport.”
“I see those more of like an off-time for football,” Woods said. “Just sports to have fun in. But football is my main sport.”
His dedication to football comes as no surprise to anyone who knows him or his family. His father Justin, an alumnus of Mill Valley, played cornerback at Kansas State from 2007-08. The younger Woods said he felt it was inevitable he’d be in a similar position.
“It was mainly (that) my dad and all my uncles came to this school,” Woods said. “So I knew I wanted to play football at a young age.”
A four-star Kansas recruit and top-100 national prospect, per 247Sports, Woods has played defensive end for the Jaguars in his high school career. He helped lead Mill Valley to its fourth-straight 5A state championship in 2022.
In his sophomore season, he totaled 51 tackles and six sacks, including five tackles in Mill Valley’s 28-14 victory over Maize in the state championship game. Woods’ reported offer list, per Rivals.com, includes local schools like Kansas, K-State and Missouri, as well as national powerhouses like Alabama, Notre Dame and USC.
“It was definitely a good feeling,” Woods said of his emotions after winning the state championship. “It’s kind of one of those feelings where once it goes away, you just want to feel it again.
“You can’t really wait for that next opportunity. You know, you’re just anxious to get that opportunity again so you can hopefully win another game.”
As a three-sport athlete, Woods attributes his growth — as both an athlete and person — to his training. He also sees each sport as helping him in the others.
“I’d say the translation between movements and stuff from different sports, especially wrestling,” Woods said. “And then as a person, just opening yourself up to new experiences. ... Going to state in both wrestling and track and field is way different than (state) football, so it’s cool to experience those different things.”
Not every high school athlete, of course, makes it to state in multiple sports. But Woods is one of the few who can describe — and differentiate between — those experiences.
“State wrestling is probably the most nervous I’ve ever been, lot of pressure,” Woods said. “You feel kind of isolated because it’s just you on the mat. And track and field is probably the most laid back because I was just laying around all day until I had to do my bit.
“But I mean football, you’re kind of there and you take care of business and you get to go. So there’s different experiences for each one.”
On the football team, Woods plays under 14-year coach Joel Applebee, who has been at the helm for all six of Mill Valley’s state football titles.
Put another way, he’s been around plenty of great players and people. And when it comes to Woods...
“He’s one of the most driven kids I’ve ever been around,” Applebee said. “He’s very disciplined in what he wants to do — and not only a good athlete, but he’s also a good student and an even better person. He’s a great young man to be around.”
Both on and off the field.
“He’s a great example for a lot of his peers to look at and look at the discipline that he puts into things, the work ethic that he has,” Applebee said. “He’s the first one on the field, last one off pretty much every day. So he’s a good example for a lot of his teammates.”
This story was originally published October 4, 2023 at 5:30 AM.
