Kentwood graduate Bonnell thrust into the Husky spotlight
He kept his eyes on his son, Carl Bonnell, to see if the former Kentwood High star would get his chance to play quarterback for the Huskies. On Saturday at Stanford, Bonnell will watch his son make his starting debut. ``I`m nervous for him,`` Glen Bonnell said. ``I think it`s harder on me. I have no control. I can just sit in the stands and hope he does well.`` The elder Bonnell appears to be more nervous than his son, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound redshirt freshman quarterback who takes control of the offense for the 0-3 Huskies. ``I`m sure there will be butterflies,`` Carl Bonnell said. ``I`ve had butterflies all my life before a game. ``But once you get on the field, things calm down.`` That`s what happened to Bonnell last week when he started the second half at Notre Dame, which beat the Huskies, 38-3. Nervous at first, he settled down. He didn`t lead the Huskies to a score, but he showed flashes of the running and passing ability that helped him compile a 35-6 record in three years as the starter at Kentwood. ``I went in there making plays and realized I could play this game at this level,`` said Bonnell, who completed seven of his 18 passes for 93 yards with one interception. He rushed for 16 yards on six carries. UW sophomore reserve linebacker Tahj Bomar played with Bonnell when Kentwood won the Class 4A state title in 2001. He closely watched his friend play against Notre Dame. ``It was probably a little rough for him when he first went in and got hit pretty hard a couple of times,`` Bomar said. ``But he bounced back up. That`s the kind of player Carl is. He bounces back.`` The big bounce Bonnell has had to bounce back away from the college football field as well. He signed with Washington State his senior year at Kentwood and then became involved in a controversial transfer to the UW that forced him to sit out an extra year. ``Difficult,`` Glen Bonnell said about the transfer that involved a dispute over the letter-of-intent signed by Bonnell. ``It was hard for him to sit out that year. It was eating at his bones and the family, as well.`` Carl Bonnell, who turned 21 last week, prefers to leave those days behind him. The UW had been his first choice, but initially the Huskies recruited Isaiah Stanback over Bonnell, who then picked WSU. ``I grew up a half-hour south,`` Bonnell told reporters on Tuesday inside Hec Edmundson Pavilion. ``It was more of a dream come true to come over here and play for the purple and gold.`` When Bonnell received a recruiting call in Pullman from then-UW coach Rick Neuheisel, he saw a chance to be the No. 1 quarterback. ``I knew there was an opportunity once Cody (Pickett) left,`` Bonnell said. ``It`d be a power struggle for quarterback.`` After spring and fall camps, Bonnell was third behind junior Casey Paus and the sophomore Stanback. But poor performances by Paus against Fresno State and Notre Dame and a weak showing by Stanback against Fresno State opened the door for Bonnell. ``I`ve got my opportunity,`` Bonnell said. ``I`m not going to let it go to waste.`` Taking the heat Glen Bonnell knows all eyes will be on his son now, not just those of his parents, relatives and friends. ``When you`re named the starter, it`s different,`` Glen Bonnell said. ``There`s a bigger load thrown on you. I`m sure he`s somewhat nervous.`` Carl Bonnell appears to be taking his big promotion in stride, looking at his role as simply doing his job. ``I don`t think there`s too much pressure,`` Carl Bonnell said about starting at Stanford. ``We`re playing a really good team that almost beat USC last weekend, so we know we`ll have our hands full. ``It really comes down to each player doing their job. That`s all I have to do. It`s not so much pressure on my back.`` Nothing would keep the pressure away more than a victory. ``Whoever gets in there and does the job, everybody will be happy once we get a win,`` Bomar said. Glen and Theresa Bonnell would be thrilled to watch their son lead the Huskies to a victory on Saturday. ``I`m excited about it,`` Glen Bonnell said. ``It`s an opportunity I hope he can jump on, help out the team and maybe get us some wins.`` * Notes: Carl Bonnell attended a Stanford football camp the summer before his senior year at Kentwood and impressed coaches so much with his speed that they wanted to recruit him as a defensive back rather than a quarterback. ...Stanford quarterback Trent Edwards attended the same camp in 2001. ...Glen Bonnell works as a para-educator in the school adjustment department at Kentlake High, the primary rival of Kentwood. ... A number of relatives and friends watched Bonnell play at Notre Dame. The list included his grandparents, who traveled from his father`s home state of Ohio, where Carl was born and lived for five years before his father moved west to take a job at Boeing.
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