Photos
Proving himself as a starting quarterback has been a challenge for the Timberline High School junior, but a challenge he embraces with every game. And he has excelled quicker than anyone expected.
An early season switch at quarterback has been a key for the Blazers, who are winners of their past three games. With MacNeil now leading the way, the Blazers (3-4 overall, 3-0 Narrows 3A) travel to Ingersoll Stadium to play Capital (4-3, 3-0) tonight at 7 in a battle of the league’s two top teams. The winner will have the inside track at the league title with one regular-season game remaining.
In just five starts, MacNeil is closing in on 1,000 passing yards and will soon join Olympia’s Trevor Houser and North Thurston’s Ben Broeker as the only area quarterbacks to surpass 1,000 passing yards this season.
MacNeil has completed 54 percent of his passes (52-of-96) for 973 yards – including 39 yards on four attempts in minimal playing time in weeks 1 and 2 – and six touchdowns. In his first three starts, he surpassed 200-plus yards each game, including a career-best 249 yards against Wilson.
“I don’t think I’ve done as good as I can, because I’m a young quarterback,” MacNeil said. “It’s going to get better.”
MacNeil has put up impressive numbers considering he wasn’t the starting quarterback when the season began.
Question marks surrounded the Blazers following the crashing end of their 2010 season, a 58-14 loss to eventual state champion Bellevue. The biggest was who would replace quarterback Kevin Russell, the offensive MVP of the 3A Narrows League now playing at Pacific Lutheran.
To be a varsity quarterback in the Blazers’ pistol offense, a mobile and dual-threat quarterback was needed. At nearly 200 pounds last season as a sophomore and junior varsity quarterback, MacNeil’s mobility wasn’t where he or the coaching staff wanted.
So, he went to work with Russell and his older brother, Charles “Buddy” MacNeil, who both play for the Lutes. He shed 35 pounds during the offseason, and now carries 170 pounds on his 5-foot-10 frame.
He reported to spring practices leaner, faster, more mobile and in tune with the offense.
“I’ve changed a lot as a whole,” MacNeil said. “It feels good now, looking back. I worked my butt off all offseason.”
When the team summer camp opened, senior James Segura-Mitchell, a converted wide receiver, was the starting quarterback. After two regular season games, the coaching staff decided Segura-Mitchell, perhaps the team’s best all-around athlete, was needed elsewhere.
That got Timberline coach Nick Mullen and his coaching staff thinking. They were convinced MacNeil was the answer after he took the Blazers on a late-game scoring drive in a 26-19 Week 2 loss to North Thurston.
MacNeil earned his first start a week later – a nonleague home game against Bonney Lake on Sept. 16. As expected, nerves were a factor in his first start. The Blazers fumbled on three of their first four possessions and found themselves in an early 20-point deficit.
MacNeil settled down, and guided Timberline in a comeback, scoring 14 unanswered second-half points. But the Blazers couldn’t convert on their final offensive possession.
MacNeil was efficient, completing 16-of-20 passes for 219 yards and one touchdown.
“We can do more with Chris,” Mullen said. “He can distribute the ball, and our receivers trust Chris because they know he’s going to place it where they can make a play. That’s what he does a great job of.”
It’s been a big change for a Blazers team that started the season winless through four games for the first time since 1994. With MacNeil as the starter, the team is 3-2 and averaging 31.6 points a game.
The offense and defense have been clicking lately, just in time for the Blazers’ biggest test to date.
“I am confident with Chris,” Mullen said. “He’s doing all the right things.”
Meg Wochnick: 360-754-5473 mwochnick@theolympian.com www.theolympian.com/southsoundsports
