‘The most decorated QB to ever play in Kansas’: Miege’s Putz earns Gatorade honors again

Bishop Miege football coach Jon Holmes remembers well the first time he met senior quarterback Carter Putz — and it’s because he didn’t think much of him.

Putz was a 5-foot-7 freshman, maybe 155 pounds at the time. He didn’t seem like the heir apparent to 6-foot-4 Ryan Willis, the Stags’ former quarterback who played two seasons at Kansas before transferring to Virginia Tech earlier this year.

Like nearly everyone else, Holmes glossed Putz over.

“Physically, you look at the kid and he doesn’t catch your eye,” Holmes said Monday, some four years after their first encounter.

It would turn out Putz never needed to resemble Willis’ stature to be successful.

As unassuming as he is, Putz showed off a strong arm without hesitation and became the most prolific passer in Kansas history. And on Monday, the now 6-foot, 190-pound Putz was named the Kansas Gatorade football player of the year for the second year in a row.

“You look over his career. He had like 13 interception his entire career in three years,” Holmes said. “Usually you would get an interception but he didn’t have very many. He completed over 70-something percent for his career as well. … He just did not have much failure.”

In leading Miege to a third straight Class 4A-Division I title and undefeated season, he completed 76 percent of his passes for 2,275 yards, 31 touchdowns and three interceptions. He added 440 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground.

The Gatorade award capped a record-shattering career that won’t continue in college, as Putz is committed to play baseball at Notre Dame. In three years as Miege’s starting quarterback, Putz led the Stags to a 37-2 record. He completed his senior campaign atop the lists for most touchdown passes (124) and most passing yards (9,295) in a career and most touchdown passes (50, in 2016) in a single season.

The 93rd touchdown pass of Putz’s career came in Week 3 against St. Thomas Aquinas, a 98-yard connection with sophomore Daniel Jackson. Putz later pulled ahead of previous record-holder Will Schneider, who threw for 8,901 yards at Shawnee Mission North from 2013-16, in the Class 4A-Division I sub-state championship against De Soto.

In addition to Gatorade honors, Putz was the Eastern Kansas League offensive player of the year, a first-team All-State selection, the Frank Fontana Award winner and an All-Simone team pick.

“He’s one of the most decorated quarterbacks to ever play in Kansas,” Holmes said.

This story was originally published December 11, 2017 at 5:28 PM with the headline "‘The most decorated QB to ever play in Kansas’: Miege’s Putz earns Gatorade honors again."