Competitive. Athletic. Quick. Agile.
But around the Bastrop locker room, another word comes up frequently — humble.
“If you talk to (Josiah), you’d quickly find out he’s a very humble kid,” said head coach Gerald Perry. “He don’t like a lot of the press and attention. He’d rather see his teammates be in the spotlight and that’s a good quality to see in a kid.”
For a player, that has been Bastrop’s leading rusher, passer and scorer in each of the last two seasons, Monroe said it’s easy to stay humble.
“I just don’t pay much attention to it,” he said. “I don’t get into all the hype. I can do a lot to get better. I am just an average Joe right now and I can’t do it all by myself.”
Statistically, Monroe does most of it by himself.
He has produced 5,112 yards of offense in his two seasons as Bastrop’s starting quarterback.
Of those offensive yards, nearly 4,000 of those have come through the air.
Monroe has scored 302 points and has a 10-6 record as the field general.
Still, co-offensive coordinator and quarterback coach Chris Olson said Monroe has yet to reach his potential.
“He can get a lot better,” Olson said. “He continues to work hard on making his reads and adjusting to the defense. He has a lot of determination.”
Monroe does have his doubters.
Being 5-foot-9, 185 pounds, Monroe isn’t really sought out as a college quarterback.
However, his speed and agility has college coaches drooling over the senior, who will more than likely end up at a Division I school as an athlete.
Monroe said he doesn’t know what he’s going to do and hasn’t given it a whole lot of thought.
Olson said keeping Monroe grounded and focused despite the distraction of having to pick a college and going on recruiting trips isn’t as difficult as one might think.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “You’d think that would be a big job, but it’s not. Josiah knows there are still people that doubt him and he has to prove them wrong.”
Monroe said in an effort to get better, he’s set himself and his teammates goals for the 2010 season.
“I expect myself to be the leader,” he said. “But, I expect my team to do what it takes to win another district championship.”
Monroe will be without the services of wide receiver Auston Shipley, now at Blinn College.
Shipley was Monroe’s go-to target the last two seasons, catching 95 passes from the quarterback.
Monroe said, however, without Shipley, Bastrop’s offense will be more dangerous because defenses will have to focus on all five of Bastrop’s receivers.
“We will have another Shipley,” Monroe said. “All five of those guys will step into that role.”
The five guys Monroe is referring to include, Buddy Nunn, Josh Taylor, Mason Foytik, D.J. Gaines and Trae Bunton.
Olson said having more receivers, will make Monroe a much more efficient quarterback.
“It makes him go through his reads,” Olson said. “(Auston) gave him a cushion at times and he looked at him at times even though he shouldn’t have. This year, he has to settle in and concentrate on his reads. I think you’ll see a more even distribution of yards this year.”