Penns Grove’s Thomas ready to do whatever it takes to have a big senior year and help the Red Devils on the road back
By Al Muskewitz
Riverview Sports News
PENNS GROVE – When Jason Avant spoke to the Penns Grove football team earlier in the week he talked about some of the sacrifices he had to take his game to the next level. The former Eagles receiver wasn’t specifically talking to Terrell Thomas, but he could have been.
Thomas was an absolute beast for the local youth league powerhouse coming up and the Red Devils were hoping that rep would translate once he got on the high school field last year. He, of course, was hoping that, too.
It hadn’t gone that way for various reasons but as the running back/linebacker approaches his senior year he’s made some sacrifices on and off the field to help him make the most of his football potential.
“I’m going into my senior year, I have to make something shake,” he said. “I can’t settle for anything less. I have to go my hardest. I have to play my hardest. I have to put in work. I have make some sacrifices.
“What stuck with me was when he said he didn’t come in to college football and start; he had to work to get into that position. That was a lot of fuel right there. I’ve got to be better, even if I wasn’t coming in as the starter or whatever. If I’m trying to get better and get where I want to go, I’ve got to be better.”
One of those sacrifices was giving up some hours from his job as a host at a local restaurant. Teens like having their own money to spend, so that was a big move. His supervisors understand and are working with him so everyone’s goals are satisfied. The restaurant keeps a valued employee and Thomas gets to continue his quest to play college football with the ultimate goal of helping his family.
“I’ve been playing football since I was 6 or 7; I’ve got a lot of love for football,” he said. “I don’t know where I would be without football.”
The Red Devils are looking for Thomas to take them places as well. He is expected to have what head coach Damian Ware calls a “major impact” and as one of only four seniors in the program he needs to.
Thomas, they say, was The Man while he played for the Twins, but since those days life intervened to keep him off the football field until last year. The time away took its toll.
The Red Devils were looking for big things from him last year and he did have flashes, but conditioning issues kept him from being all that he could be.
He led the team in carries and rushing yards, but he had only 293 yards on 73 carries in an offense that struggled to score. He also had 21 tackles on defense.
He went for 94 yards and a 42-yard touchdown against Schalick and had 146 yards on 31 carries in his last two games. But in between had back-to-back games with eight for minus-4 and four for 0.
“Last year his conditioning didn’t allow him to play at a high level for long periods of time; that’s just the hiatus of not playing for 3, 4 years,” Ware said. “Going from the eighth grade to varsity football no matter what age you are is a big difference if you don’t play for 2, 3 years and I think that was the major difference for him, getting his feet back underneath of him and getting his conditioning right.
“That’s really the crux of what we’re doing right now. We’re out practicing, we’re conditioning, we’re running, we’re doing drills, we’re in the weight room, and that’s all stuff he didn’t really, I guess, take seriously last year. Now he’s taking it more seriously, he’s starting to realize this is my last year, so it’s now or never.”
And to make it all happen it takes making sacrifices.
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