The high school athletic successes and accolades already run deep for Evergreen’s Carter Monda and Trey Knight of Ridgefield.
Turns out, the seniors have a lot in common in football as first-year high school players.
There’s Monda, a multi-sport standout for the Plainsmen and Major League baseball prospect, shining in football’s prime position of quarterback. And there’s Knight, a four-time state track and field champion who competes nationally and internationally, thriving for the Spudders at defensive end.
And, their play has their respective football teams capturing playoff berths under first-year head coaches entering Friday night’s regular-season finales. Monda leads Evergreen (5-3, 2-1 league) into face Prairie for a shot at a home playoff game and a share of the 3A Greater St. Helens League title. Knight guides Ridgefield (5-3, 4-1 league) into Hockinson seeking a share of the 2A GSHL title already having locked up a home playoff berth next week.
The path differs how the duo decided to put on pads and helmets, but both came together committed to helping their football teams win in turnaround seasons as seniors.
Making of a quarterback
Getting Monda, one of the school’s top athletes, to turn out for football turned into a mission for Christian Swain after being hired in March.
“It’s probably the luckiest thing that’s happened to me as a coach,” Swain said.
All Swain needed to see is one throw by Monda — in the school’s main parking lot after a May baseball practice — to know he had his signal caller for 2019.
Monda was on board, too, but had a request: he wanted first pick of a jersey number.
Done deal.
At 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, Monda is among the Southwest Washington leaders with 1,817 passing yards and 18 touchdowns as Evergreen has won four of its past five games entering Friday.
If you count spring ball that began May 31, plus Monda’s only other season of football in eighth grade, his playing career is eight months long.
But he walked into a ready-made, quarterback-friendly situation for his senior year. His receiving corps features veterans Zyell Griffin, Tae Marks, Jaylen Fite and Camren Smith, and the foursome combined for 1,694 yards on 104 catches.
That receiving corps has made Monda’s job easier.
“If I make a mistake, they’ll catch it,” he said. “Normal receivers wouldn’t catch some of these balls that these guys do.”
Evergreen plays to Monda’s strengths, but the quarterback has grasped the spread offense first-year offensive coordinator JJ Johnson brought in. In-between summer baseball stints, Monda worked with quarterbacks coach Domenic Rockey, an ex-WSU quarterback, on correcting his baseball-throwing motion.
“He’s really taken it seriously, and that’s why he’s been so successful,” Swain said. “It’s pretty incredible he’s playing at the level he’s playing at.”
Monda is a shooting guard in basketball and an all-league center fielder and pitcher in baseball.
The toughest challenge and adjustment in football, he said, isn’t so much reading coverages as it is growing into a leader of a soon-to-be playoff-bound team.
“Playing high school football,” the quarterback said, “I didn’t think it’d be a big deal, but it is. …”
Trying to lead a team when only playing quarterback this little amount of time and getting the respect from them.”
And he’s got it.
Persistence pays off
Ridgefield’s Trey Knight is one of the nation’s elite track and field throwers who’s narrowed his college choices to Penn State, LSU and USC.
But to play football, Knight’s focused on recruiting his parents, Beau and Heather, for their blessing.
“My mom,” Knight said, “she was the hardest one to convince.”
Knight has major goals in track and field, but the high school experience wouldn’t feel complete, he said, without a shot at a sport he gave up after eighth grade.
Last spring, when Knight was on his way to repeating as Class 2A’s shot put and discus state champion, the 17-year-old began forging a plan — and got creative by making a presentation on a computer — to convince his family why playing football is beneficial. Younger brother, Carson, a sophomore, also got on board and like older brother, now is a tight end and defensive end.
Persistence paid off for Knight.
“I planned this out for so long,” he said. “This was honestly one of the hardest things I’ve had to do.
“I think everyone is happy now. … It’s a blast.”
Especially the Spudders. Knights starts at defensive end and also plays receiver and tight end on offense. For an athlete who’s competed — and won — on the biggest stages in the hammer throw, nerves got the best of Knight in the team’s season opener.
That all ended when he ran back a fumble recovery 92 yards for a touchdown. Since then, he has a team-best seven quarterback sacks.
From the camaraderie with teammates to locker room moments after big wins, Knight continues to soak it all in.
“Those types of moments with my team and my friends, and my brother makes it special,” he said. “That was the big thing I missed.”
At 6-foot-2 and 220 pounds, Knight explosiveness and athleticism in track and field made for a quick transition in football. While first-year Ridgefield coach Scott Rice has seen Knight make eye-popping plays off of pure athleticism, he’s now watching the same athlete becoming a better and smarter football player.
And there’s nothing Knight hasn’t been able to handle, the coach said.
“He does a really good job against the run,” Rice said. “He’s so physically strong that we put him on the weak side and let him and another guy handle the backside of our defense … Trey can handle that.”
