Brookwood looking to fill Thomas’ void

T.J. Thomas was superhuman in what he was asked to do for the Brookwood Warriors last year. The Warriors may not need that same level of talent to replace Thomas’ production; they may just need a couple of humans to team up to do it.

One of the main challenges for Brookwood football coach Shane Boggs this summer is finding the team’s next playmaker. Last year it was Thomas. This year it could be Seth Boggs or Isiah Hill or Rex Schofill.

It could be a plethora of playmakers, said Boggs.

“Rex has got great speed. Isiah Hill, he had a bunch of carries in that Deerfield game last year when T.J. was out and did really well. Briggs Daniel is a great target, great hands, big frame. Seth has made some plays for us already. There are some other guys that will compete to be a part of this,” Boggs said. “Obviously, the name of the game is to get the best 11 players on the field. We will do that regardless of what position they were born to play.”

Brookwood’s challenge may not be to replace Thomas so much but replace his production. He was the team’s starting running back and No. 2 quarterback last year while finishing as the leading receiver in school history.

“He’s as big of a playmaker as we’ve ever had in my career,” Boggs said. “The point is you could play him at any of those positions and he was going to do really well. He was going to draw a bunch of attention, but he was also going to win. Obviously, losing him is a really big deal. The situation in his case is we’re going to take three, four or five running backs and let them all mix in.”

Boggs is also using this summer to determine his offensive identity, especially without his top playmaker and starting quarterback (Rodge Waldrop) from last year.

“Hopefully, anybody that claims to be good in terms of coaching offensive football is going to do that. There’s all kinds of things that great offenses have in common from making the defense defend the whole field with wides and vertically and protecting athe ball and not making penalties,” Boggs said. “Ultimately, the name of the game is to get the ball in the hands of the playmakers.”