Manix is Bullpups’ man

Last season Max Manix was one of three potential Gonzaga Prep quarterback starters and the Bullpups, a year removed from playing in the State 4A semifinals, were considered a Greater Spokane League football afterthought.

Manix, by circumstance, wound up Gonzaga’s sole QB and his gaudy varsity debut spurred the Bullpups to a second-place finish and into the state playoffs for the sixth straight year.

“To be honest,” said coach Dave Carson, “it was a three-way fight for quarterback,” that was going to be sorted out during the season-opening game at Qwest Field in Seattle.

One possible starter, David Kries, broke his wrist in the game. And there was a more pressing need, said Carson, to play sophomore Brian Karwacki at linebacker.

Manix, the quarterback by default, rushed for 74 yards on 14 carries in a 26-0 win over Bellarmine Prep in that Emerald City Kickoff Classic game. During their 9-2 season, he wound up gaining 1,154 yards overall, running out of the Bullpups option offense. In the GSL he was fifth among all GSL rushers and ranked second in total offense.

“Max started playing better,” said Carson, “and the more he played the better he got.”

Now a senior on a veteran team picked to finish at or near the top of this year’s GSL, the quarterback slot remains Manix’s alone. The same can’t be said for other teams in a league filled with talented, but unproven, players. Friday’s games are important early-season matchups.

Glen Reser and Mt. Spokane transfer Matt Johnson at Mead; Shawn Stockton and Jeff Minnerly at Ferris; Russell Woodworth and Lonnie Quirk at East Valley, have all been mentioned in one breath at QB by their coaches.

Injury rehabilitation at Central Valley and Rogers had thrust players from other positions into the breech left by expected starters. Lewis and Clark and Shadle Park also were unsettled as coaches looked at two quarterbacks.

Carson, who has had quarterbacks job-share in the past, doesn’t see it as being a problem, but Manix enjoys being “the guy.”

He and Kries shared quarterback both as freshmen and sophomores. They split repetitions to begin last season before Kries was injured.

“Coaches just let us have equal time, basically.” Manix said, who added that splitting the job was hard. “But it made us both better because we were in a competition every day and didn’t know it was our job. Unfortunately Dave got hurt in the first game and was out most of the season. That’s when I got my time to shine, that was my chance.”

Manix made the most of it. He rushed for 189 yards and three second quarter touchdowns the following week, rallying the team from a 10-0 deficit to a 34-17 win at East Valley. Prep’s only loss until the playoffs (in which Manix had 122 yards rushing and 87 passing during the 35-13 setback in Pasco) was 3-0 to Central Valley in overtime.

Manix – and his cousin Tara Cronin, also a current Bullpup senior athletic standout – both have shown what it takes to succeed in their chosen sports, whether football, basketball, soccer or baseball.

Last year the Bullpups were picked sixth in league, but continued a playoff string that began with the millennium. It is something that has become expected at a school that has continued to excel in football.

“We try not to think about it,” said Manix of those expectations. “We come out and work hard every day. I’ve watched my cousins growing up and seen them give it all they’ve got. That’s all I can do.”