Evan Bauer, 2005-09
Quarterback

Evan Bauer played quarterback for the Patriots, graduating in 2009. After graduating from high school, he attended and graduated from Baylor. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Physics at UC-Santa-Barbara.

Evan has a lot of fond memories of playing football for the Patriots but, his favorite might surprise you. "Strangely, my favorite memory might be a last minute loss to St. James during my senior season," Evan explained. "That game for me encapsulates all the glory and heartbreak of football. I would have preferred to win, but the vivid memories from that loss remind me that sometimes it’s worthwhile to give everything you have and come up short."

Evan will also say that football, as a game, has helped to shape him into what he is today. "Christ Prep football taught me how to invest effort and self-discipline in the things I’m passionate about," he explained. "My pursuits since high school have been almost entirely academic, but the lessons I learned from football have been just as influential in those pursuits as anything I did in the classroom during high school"

It is lessons like that Evan credits to football. If there is one thing he would say to the current team it's this: "Soak up everything you can from your coaches.

Lenard Manual, 2007-10
 

Almost anyone with a history in Christ Prep football will remember the name ‘Lenard Manuel.’  He was a hard-hitting running back who played from 2007 through 2010.  He came to Christ Prep through a scholarship from Freedom Fire Ministries and Kansas City Christian School.  He holds the record for Christ Prep with an astonishing 295 yards rushing in one game! He went on to play at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa, playing both running back and linebacker.

He will tell you he learned many lessons as a Patriot. But, the biggest, single lesson? ‘I have to put the team before myself,’ he said.

These days Manuel works with troubled youth in Omaha at the Uta Halee Residence School. The lessons he learned while playing high school football certainly help him today.

Manuel says the best lesson he learned as a Patriot was the really on the team. ‘Push through the tough practice and adversity as a team,’ he said. ‘The team will make you great.’

Jordan Cook
Linebacker, Fullback

Jordan Cook enjoyed a prolific career for the Christ Prep Patriots. During his tenure with the Patriots, he played both fullback and linebacker. One of his highlight awards was being selected as the 2003 National MVP for National Association of Christian Athletes.  Like many of the young men he played with, he says Head Coach Dick Burton had a profound effect on him that still resonates today.

“Coach Burton taught me what it means to be a man,” Cook said. “Specifically a follower of Jesus. He always said that years later we would not remember wins or losses or our stats, but we'd remember if we gave a hundred percent on the field.”

Cook says that now, almost 13 years after he played his last down for the Patriots, that lesson still remain true.  “Looking back on all my years playing I don't remember the details of any of the games or how I played or any of the wins or losses,” he said. “Those are a blur. What I do remember and what lasts are the guys I played next to that I shared life with and continue to share with to this day.”

As far as a distinct memory, he treasures the times when coaches weren’t around. “ Without a doubt, the best memory is the players only meeting we had each year before the last game of the season.”

After Christ Prep, Jordan went on to play in college at Missouri Southern State in Joplin, Missouri. After college he played semiprofessional football for the Kansas City Shockers.  What advice would he give current Patriots? “Stretch your perspective and force yourself to get out of you comfort zone,” he said. “Surround yourself with diversity and with people that look different than you. God uses people that are different than us for our growth.”

These days Jordan is a Social Worker for a local organization called Restart. He works with homeless veterans connecting them to government assistance programs. He is also a father of 3 and has been happily married for 5 years.