This was supposed to be the season when Colton Maita finally realized his dream of becoming Neuqua Valley’s starting quarterback.
Two years ago, Maita was the starting quarterback for the sophomore team, so he thought he had a good shot at getting the varsity job as a junior. That plan was derailed when he suffered a serious injury while playing baseball in spring 2024.
“I fractured my back, sat out for two to three months, came back in the summer, and then within two weeks of being back, fractured it again, this time on both the right and left side,” Maita said. “It was pretty bad. It hurt to move.”
Maita’s first stress fracture was the result of overuse. The second came when he was lifting weights.
The injury caused Maita to miss the entire 2024 football season. He watched from the sidelines as the Wildcats went 2-7.
“It was a tough season last year for everyone, especially me just being on the sidelines,” he said. “So it just kind of motivated me more and more for this year, and I have been really looking forward to it.”
Maita is back on the field, but not at quarterback. Neuqua Valley coach Bill Ellinghaus chose junior Drake Mennecke as the starter.
“He’s a quarterback at heart,” Ellinghaus said of Maita. “He’s a shortstop in baseball. He’s got a great arm. But probably the last two or three days of camp, I decided to go with Drake.”
The news stung Maita, but Ellinghaus tempered it by offering him a different opportunity.
“He’s too good of an athlete to keep off the field,” Ellinghaus said. “So I’m like, ‘Colton, you’ve got to go play defense for us.’
“We needed a cornerback, so we put him at corner, and he’s been really, really good ever since. He’s just a great athlete.”
And a great sport. Maita responded by putting his team’s needs first.
“I was bummed that I didn’t win the quarterback position,” Maita said. “It was disappointing, but whatever my team needs from me to help us win, I’m totally 100% good with that.
“I was looking forward to getting on the defensive side of the ball and getting work in there and getting on the field.”
The early returns were spectacular. Maita made his defensive debut a memorable one, accounting for two of the Wildcats’ three interceptions in their 21-13 win against rival Waubonsie Valley in Aurora on Friday night.
Junior linebacker Pierce Stevens, who had the other interception, was thrilled for Maita.
“He had some adversity,” Stevens said. “He was going to play quarterback, and then he got moved to corner, but he didn’t let that stop him. He got after it, and he had two interceptions tonight.”
Maita’s first interception came at Waubonsie Valley’s 31-yard line and set up senior running back Andrew Barkley’s 16-yard touchdown run that gave the visiting Wildcats a 14-0 lead. He added another interception in the third quarter.
“Boy, am I glad he switched to defense,” said Barkley, who rushed for 183 yards and two touchdowns. “Boy, am I glad. Those interceptions just set us up for perfect opportunities to score.”
Maita continued his strong play in the fourth quarter, when he had a sack and nearly another interception in the end zone with five seconds left in the game. The Warriors drove to Neuqua Valley’s 14 before being stopped.
How can someone play a new position so well so soon?
“He understands the game so well,” Ellinghaus said. “He understands what the quarterback is trying to do, so he always puts himself in a good spot. We needed him tonight.”
Maita, who also missed his freshman season due to elbow surgery, credited his teammates with preparing him for his varsity debut.
“Everybody brought me in pretty well,” he said. “The leaders on the team took me under their wing, and the coaches got us prepared to get ready to go for the game.
“It was an adrenaline rush, you know, flying around, all 11 men to the ball. It’s a ton of fun.”
But Maita harbors hopes of getting some action under center.
“I still take some reps at quarterback in practice,” he said. “In case anything ever happens, I’ll be ready to go.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.