At Almost Any Position, Manning is Trabuco Hills’ Main Man : Versatile: He has played defensive back, wide receiver, running back and quarterback for the Mustangs.

First of all, let’s say this about Tim Manning. He is an outstanding athlete.

In three years on Trabuco Hills High School’s football team, Manning has played defensive back, wide receiver, running back and, now, quarterback. He has excelled at all.

But there is another Tim Manning, one who, at times, is a little insane. The way he carries himself on the football field, it’s a wonder he isn’t carried off the football field sometimes.

Already this season, Manning has suffered a bruised sternum, a bruised shoulder, a bruised hip and a bruised forearm. And that was in one game.

“We’re try to get Tim to concentrate a little more on the cerebral part of playing quarterback, like throwing the ball,” Trabuco Hills Coach Jim Barnett said. “But the last thing I want to do is suppress his instincts.”

Instincts are everything for Manning. They are what make him more than a good high school player. They make him a great one.

Whether it’s defensive back or quarterback, football or basketball, Manning plays with the abandon of a daredevil. Sure, it gets him into a little trouble on the field from time to time, but Manning more than makes up for that by sacrificing all for victory.

“Tim really doesn’t think about his body in the heat of competition. We do, but he doesn’t,” Barnett said. “He’s just one of those kids who is blessed with a lot of determination and a tremendous will to win.”

Manning, who is 5-feet-11, 185 pounds, has come full circle since entering Trabuco Hills. He was the starting quarterback on a freshman team that finished 7-3, but as a sophomore he played defensive back on the varsity.

Last season, Manning was Trabuco Hills’ No. 1 offensive threat. He scored touchdowns as a running back, receiver, punt returner and even threw a touchdown pass on an option play.

But the Mustangs were in need of a quarterback this season. David Lowery, who guided Trabuco Hills to the Southern Section Division VIII title last season, graduated and is now at San Diego State.

Barnett had Manning waiting in the wings. He began to train for the job last season, taking a few turns at quarterback during practice once a week.

“I’ve always known I would be the quarterback my senior year,” Manning said. “There was no one else, unless someone transferred in. It wasn’t my favorite position, but I’ll do it.”

Manning hasn’t been compared to Lowery, who passed for an Orange County single-season record 3,293 yards in 1988. Mainly because they are two distinctively different quarterbacks.

Lowery preferred to stay in the pocket until he found a receiver; Manning has been quick to pull the ball down and take off at the first sign of trouble.

“My idea of avoiding a sack isn’t to throw the ball out of bounds,” Manning said. “I just take off and try to gain some yards.”

It worked fine in the season opener, a 50-14 victory against Santa Margarita, but the following week Manning was battered and beaten by Dana Hills.

He frequently left the pocket against the Dolphins, usually running into the waiting arms of a defender. On one third-down play, Manning scrambled. He was sandwiched by three defenders and staggered off the field.

Manning played the final quarter with a bruised sternum, a bruised shoulder, a bruised hip and a bruised forearm. The Mustangs lost, 14-7, and, after the game, Manning collapsed and was taken to the hospital. He was released after X-rays showed no broken bones.

“I think Tim was trying to do it all by himself,” Barnett said. “Against a lesser team, he might have got away with it, but Dana Hills is a very good football team. He got clobbered.”

On the Monday after the game, Manning was advised by everyone that he should not scramble so much. Principal William Brand told Manning to be more careful and basketball coach Rainer Wulf, in an effort to protect a member of his own team, offered to teach him how to step out of bounds.

“I told Tim that everyone already knew he’d run through a brick wall to make a play and to leave it at that,” Wulf said. “He didn’t have to go out and prove it every week. There were times in the Dana Hills game when I didn’t think he was going to get up.”

Manning wasn’t born tough, he learned it.

When his family lived in Deerfield, Ill., Manning and his older brother would play football with friends in the neighborhood. Manning was the youngest of the group and was constantly pushed around.

“Every time I tried to quit, they’d all start calling me a wimp,” Manning said. “I had to show them I wasn’t. I got some bruises, but I showed them I wasn’t a wimp.”

Wulf got a taste of Manning’s tougher-than-thou attitude last season, when Trabuco Hills’ basketball team won the Southern Section 3-A championship.

Manning was a constant source of inspiration for the Mustangs. He dove into the stands after balls and occasionally had to leave games because of various injuries caused by his overzealous play. But always he returned.

What amazed Wulf the most, though, was Manning’s performance in the 3-A title game against Corona del Mar.

In the second half, Manning got hit with an elbow, opening a gash above his left eye. He kept playing, even though blood was pouring out of the wound.

After a quick timeout and a bandage, Manning was back on the court.

“They took a team photo right after the game, and in the middle was Tim with blood running down his arm and a big smile on his face,” Wulf said. “He looked like he had been in a boxing match.”

Although Manning excels in basketball and at several positions in football, he has had his best success at defensive back.

Manning has intercepted 23 passes during his three varsity seasons. He is tied with former Mission Viejo player David Hill for the Orange County career record.

Twice, Manning has intercepted three passes in a game and three other times he has picked off two. In fact, he has intercepted so many passes, he has trouble remembering the details of any them.

There’s one, though, that’s forever etched on the mind of Jim Barnett.

In 1987, Manning, then a 5-foot-9, 155-pound sophomore, intercepted a pass and headed for the end zone. A few yards downfield a San Clemente lineman grabbed Manning by the jersey and began swinging him around.

Manning refused to go down and the player refused to let go. Something had to give.

“It was one of those whirly-bird tackles,” Barnett said. “The kid was slinging Tim around and around and around. Well, the jersey ripped and Tim went in for the touchdown. This kid was just standing there, looking perplexed, holding a little piece of Tim’s shirt.”

This season, Manning has two interceptions, but he has played defensive back mostly in passing situations, allowing him to concentrate offense.

He has come around to Barnett’s way of thinking, somewhat. He still likes to run the ball on occasion and has gained 310 yards. But Manning is sticking around in the pocket a little more now and has proved to be an effective passer.

Against Simi Valley, two weeks after the Dana Hills game, Manning passed for 365 yards. He has completed 82 of 148 passes for 1,342 yards and nine touchdowns this season.

Manning also has become the emotional leader for the Mustang crowd, as well as the team. After touchdowns, he returns to the sideline and waves at the crowd for more noise. Like the team, they respond.

“Every now and then I have to stop Tim and tell him, ‘That’s why we have cheerleaders,’ ” Barnett said. “I just want him to concentrate on the game.”

Said Manning: “I don’t know why I do it. I guess it’s just instinct.”