By Max Calhoun
Behind the lights, glory, and the anxious feeling before kickoff is the five-minute call that sets his mind right.
Before every football game, junior Aven Thomas slipped away from the noise and found a quiet spot where no one would bother him. He’d call his dad, they’d talk for a while, and the stress of the game would fade.
“He would give me the right mindset to go win,” Thomas said.
Thomas has had an up and down relationship with football, but this past season everything seemed to fall into place.
Thomas started football like many kids, playing all the way up until middle school. But then he stepped away from the game, not playing in seventh nor eighth grade as he lost interest in the sport. He started playing again his freshman year, so while kids in his grade already had a grasp of the playbook he had to start from ground zero.
However, Thomas said coming back “just came natural.”
The coaching staff always knew Aven had potential to be the weapon for the Eagles.
“I always knew he was gonna be special and when he was given his opportunity he ran with it,” coach Billy Lynch said.
Coach Lynch was an assistant coach throughout Thomas’s freshman and sophomore years before being hired to lead the program.
“Even when I was a freshman, he always told me that my time was coming,” Thomas said. “He was the reason why I got so many reps (repetitions) last year as a sophomore. He’s always believing in me.”
And as Billy’s time came, so did Thomas’s.
Billy was hired as the football program’s new head coach this year following Coach Jeremy Lochner’s move back to Mississinewa.
This season in Thomas’s first year as a starter, he recorded 892 rushing yards and a team high of nine touchdowns on the ground.
Some dream to achieve a stat line like that, but for Thomas even then it’s not enough.
“It means there’s a lot more to get done,” Thomas said. “To me, I didn’t really have a breakout season. I felt like I could have done a lot more, but I will make sure I get it done next time.”
The season was full of ups and downs for the Eagles but when you have a back like Thomas it’s hard to count yourself out.
The New Castle Trojans came to town for the annual homecoming game with both teams trying to get back in the win column. Everything felt different.
When the buzzer rang at halftime the Trojans held a 14-point lead sending some fans heading toward the parking lot. However, the Eagles weren’t done yet.
“I think it’s good that we can rely on him to make plays when we need one,” junior quarterback Deacon Blevins said, “like when we’re down late in the game against New Castle this year. When we needed a big play, he came out first play after halftime and went down and scored a 70-yard touchdown.”
Thomas led the comeback with three more touchdowns to soar the Eagles to victory.
With this season not ending how he wanted it to, falling to defending state runner-up Fort Wayne Bishop Luers in the first round of sectionals, Thomas has made it a point to hit the weight room. He plans to build on his speed and explosiveness.
While being stereotypically undersized for a collegiate running back, Thomas has still captured the attention of several D1 and D2 schools. He spoke to Butler then attended gameday visits to Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan.
While taking on a leadership role on the field he still manages to keep the locker room alive and happy.
“He’s just a really funny guy to be around,” Blevins said. “He just brings light to the room; he’s always cracking jokes and making people laugh, which is awesome to have on the field and off the field, But also on the field he can push guys to want to win and you know, build the team up.”
Now, with his junior season behind him, Thomas still isn’t satisfied. He finished just about 100 yards short of 1,000, a number that’s stuck in his head ever since the season ended.
“Being that close just makes me want it more,” Thomas said. “Next year, I’m not stopping until I get there and pass it.”
For Aven, it’s not just about stats, it’s about winning, Thomas wants next season to be the one where everything comes together, both for him and for his team.
