Even in loss, Braden River RB Raymond Thomas excels and stays upbeat

Raymond Thomas stood along the Braden River High School sideline and shouted aloud for any teammate to listen.

His message was upbeat: “Let’s go, ‘O’.”

The senior tailback’s words came with 2 minutes, 31 seconds left and against a looming defeat that would end his high school football career.

Thomas, though, has gone through too much of his own adversity to drop any optimism in football, even when Venice eliminated his Pirates in the Class 7A-Region 3 semifinals with a 64-42 final score.

“He was one of our few seniors that we had playing, so he was not going to let those guys give up,” Braden River offensive coordinator Eric Sanders said.

Thomas was the dynamite in Braden River’s offense last season, exploding for big runs left and right. Then a torn anterior cruciate ligament robbed him of the playoffs and helping Braden River on the field during the 2015 state semifinal run.

But Thomas bounced back from that ACL tear just as he bounced back Friday night against an opponent that stifled him in an October meeting. Venice bottled up Thomas as the Indians keyed on Braden River’s rushing attack during regular-season play. Quarterback Louis Colosimo and the passing game was left to inflict damage.

The Indians adjusted their defense to limit Braden River’s passing attack on Friday, and Thomas excelled. He finished with 113 rushing yards on 16 carries and three touchdowns, while adding 65 receiving yards on three catches in his final high school game.

“I was very motivated, because there’s so much on the line,” Thomas said. “The rest of my season. I don’t have it anymore, but I came out here with the mentality that it could be my last game. So why not enjoy it?”

Thomas’ reputation as a tough kid epitomizes what the Braden River football program underwent since the laughingstock season in head coach Curt Bradley’s first year back in 2012.

The transformation built to a crescendo with last year’s state semifinal run, and Thomas was a key force in this year’s success as the team reached a region semifinal.

“He’s been everything,” Bradley said. “He’s one of the best human beings. One of the toughest football players. He’s got so much heart. He’s obviously have a good career in college and he’s going to be one of those kids that you definitely don’t want to lose, but are happy to see progress to the next level.”

Thomas did his part Friday for a Braden River team that scored enough points to win most games.

“He’s definitely a special athlete,” Venice head coach John Peacock. “He’s explosive.”

The Pirates’ defense, though, struggled to shut down Venice, particularly on third and fourth down.

It was almost a carbon copy of the October victory for the Indians, who converted 12 of 16 third downs and 3 of 4 fourth downs on Friday. They were stopped one time, and Matt Laroche and Bryce Carpenter combined for 548 rushing yards. Carpenter tied the program record with six touchdowns.

Jason Dill: 941-745-7017, @Jason__Dill

This story was originally published November 19, 2016 at 12:35 AM with the headline "Even in loss, Braden River RB Raymond Thomas excels and stays upbeat."