Prep Athlete of the Week: Maddox Kirkland

Stepping into the starting quarterback role for the three-time returning state champion Kendrick football team this season, one might say that Maddox Kirkland had big shoes to fill.

Fortunately, the sophomore is a Size 13.

Kirkland has impressed with offensive production throughout the season — never more so than in a 68-6 Class 2A Whitepine League win for the Tigers against then-fellow-unbeaten Potlatch on Oct. 4. Generally known as a pass-dominant QB, Kirkland added two rushing scores to his three passing during the Tigers’ tour de force. It was little wonder, then, that he was soon afterward voted the Tribune’s Prep Athlete of the Week.

“He definitely slid under the radar a little bit,” Kendrick coach Zane Hobart said of Kirkland, who played JV quarterback for the Tigers last year while longtime standout Ty Koepp started his senior season with varsity. “I think a lot of people and a lot of teams expected a different quarterback to start for us, but Maddox proved early in the season and even in summer camp that he was going to be the guy.”

Said Kirkland, “We’ve been working a lot, especially, on my knowledge of the playbook.”

Hobart described Kirkland as a “really smart” player with “tremendous arm talent” who has been “doing everything we ask of him” through his rise to prominence.

“He’s a cerebral guy, which I really love at the quarterback position,” Hobart said. “A guy that understands and also thinks like me. It’s nice that we can work together, and I’m really impressed with his mental capacity at a young age.”

Kirkland took up football in the seventh grade while going to school in Troy, then moved to Kendrick his eighth-grade year. He is a three-sport athlete, also active with the Tigers in baseball and basketball, but considers the “faster” and “more physical” game of football his favorite.