Papillion LaVista South High School product Josh Manchigiah is one of the brightest freshman prospects in the nation. The 6-foot-1, 172-pound cornerback from Papillion, Neb., has been an Eastbay All-American three straight years, plays on Team USA and is already drawing interest from SEC programs as a 15-year old. Equally as impressive as his gridiron performance, Manchigiah carries a perfect 4.0 GPA in the classroom at this time. We spent some time with
him recently talking about his first varsity season and the past few years of his life in football.
“My high school coaches are great, as are my teammates. I moved up to varsity after my first freshman game where I had three touchdowns and two interceptions and became a starter at cornerback by our fourth game,” Manchigiah stated. “I got to contribute a lot at wide receiver too and they also put together specific packages for me which allowed me to contribute to our offense in special ways.”
Most of us who played football at the varsity level moved up during our sophomore or junior years and admittedly, it can be nerve wracking. Manchigiah expressed what it felt like for him as only a freshman.
“My first emotion was to be nervous and when I went out for my first start I was apprehensive, but you do pick up on the speed of the game pretty quickly,” Manchigiah stated. “We played the state runner-ups in my first start, but after that game I definitely got my feet under me fully and started playing much better.”
Also, younger players tend to be a bit less cerebral in their approach to the game. They have more of a reactionary style of play. Rookies wait to see what is coming and then approach. Manchigiah is already anticipating.
“The first read I make on every play is the tackle so I can figure out if it’s a run or pass and we play a lot of man, so at that point I’ve got to mirror my guy,” Manchigiah mentioned. “I definitely prefer to jam people up at the line, getting in their face and frustrating them. Most of our off coverage is Cover 3 and I do it well, but I really do like getting press because I feel like I know which hand to jam with, exactly when to open my hips and how to time things well. If you open those hips up too early you’re giving a free release, so I keep them on the line longer.”
He talked about how he felt he did this year.
“I felt that once I got used to it that I was in on a lot of tackles, broke up passes when I had the opportunity and picked off some passes,” Manchigiah added. “I know I can do much better next season, but getting the experience of playing varsity as a freshman was a big plus. I learned a lot of things this season that will help me into next season, the most important of which were getting used to the speed of the game and not getting too down when our team doesn’t do too well (Papillion LaVista South posted a 2-7 record this season).”
“Oh wow, it’s always been a great experience. I always love participating with the best players in my grade from around the country because it makes me a better player. It’s a great honor to be recognized as an All-American, I always love my coaches there and I get to meet players from places I never thought I would.”
As a member of Eastbay’s Team USA, the 15-year old recently played Canada in January. In the summer of 2012, playing on USA Football’s U15 Team USA, he went up against Sweden with his teammates.
“It was interesting playing Canada because they have a very different style of offense with an upback and some pretty big running backs,” Manchigiah explained. “They also didn’t throw the ball a lot and it was just a change from what you’re used to in the States. Their offense is basically like a Pistol and then they also bring that upback behind the linemen, so it was just very different.”
“Team Sweden is definitely coming along as a program as they only ran about four offensive plays, but they had some size and were physical up front. I’m friends with a bunch of those guys on Facebook and it was fun just to interact with them because it’s completely different in Sweden than it is here. They’re absolutely hilarious guys to talk to.”
Academically, Manchigiah is very sound with a 4.0 GPA and takes all Honors classes. This year alone he completed Honors English, Biology, United States History and Geometry. Most freshmen don’t elect to take one.
“I feel I should be the best I should be and push myself and my parents have very high expectations, so I feel like if I really challenge myself I’ll do better. I pick up a lot in class and just retain things well.”
In fact, the Papillion native plans to continue taking as many Honors courses as he can for the rest of high school which will put him in a position to attend any college he wants.
“I want to feel like I fit into the school and their program and just make sure I’m making a 40-year decision, not a four-year decision,” Manchigiah told us. “Academics are going to definitely play an equal role to athletics in my decision. I want to play for a very good football team, but I have to succeed on and off the field at the next level. Distance doesn’t really matter to me at all, so if I need to move out of my comfort zone in the State of Nebraska I can do that. If I stay here at home, that’s fine as well.”
Manchigiah does love football and he went into depth about his favorite parts of the game.
“I love the competition of the game whether it’s healthy competition within the team or under the lights on Friday,” Manchigiah expressed. “I have a desire to win in everything I do whether it’s football or not. I like scoring touchdowns and hitting people because frankly, I just love to see their reaction when I lay them out. You have to love that feeling you get after a big hit. I’m definitely not a “Deion” who is afraid to tackle, I’ll come up and make a bit hit from cornerback.”
While we had the young man talking about what he likes, we asked him what he thought he did well on the field. Also, we asked Manchigiah to take a look at his craft and tell us what he needs to improve.
He told us he felt he was best at making plays on the ball when it is in the air, reading the quarterback and being able to anticipate where he will throw the ball and tracking receivers. Manchigiah also was very proud of his ability come up and be physical hitting people, whether it was after shedding blocks in run support or out on the edge.
As for improvement, the Papillion LaVista South product told us he really does need to improve his straight line speed. “I feel like there were a few times this year some wide receivers got away from me a bit on go routes.” He’ll be with a speed coach this offseason to work on that issue. Also, he brought up a very astute observation, his hand strength. “There were two times this year that I could have had another interception or pass break up and the wide receiver got the ball because I couldn’t rip it away. That’s unacceptable.”
Manchigiah unofficially visited LSU and Texas A&M in the fall and was invited to their camps this summer.
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