It is safe to say Meadow Bridge junior quarterback Braydon Thomas is not familiar with the Wally Pipp and Lou Gehrig baseball story.
After all, the scenario took place nearly 100 years ago.
The basic premise of the story is Pipp was the starting first baseman for the New York Yankees. On June 2, 1925, Pipp asked out of the game due to a headache. Gehrig was inserted into the line-up and proceeded to play 2,130 consecutive games, a Major League Baseball record that stood for 56 years.
Clearly Thomas won’t be playing over 2,000 consecutive football games, but, just like Gehrig, he took full advantage of an opportunity he was handed and made the best of it.
Thomas will open the 2023 football season for the Wildcats under center as QB1, but a good portion of that decision was made last year in the final game of the regular season.
When the final football Friday arrived last year, the Wildcats were struggling with a 2-7 record and would end season on the road at Gilmer County.
The 23-man roster that started the season had dwindled to just 16 players. The stage was set for Meadow Bridge to mail it in and move on to next season.
“He started the final game for us last year. That was partly us looking ahead do to injuries and different things,” Meadow Bridge head coach Dwayne Reichard said. “We had to shuffle people around at the end of the year. When you dress 16 kids, you have to put 11 on the field somewhere. We had got him some reps early in the year and we thought it would be a possibility he could be our guy this year.”
With Thomas driving the bus, the Wildcats refused to pack it in and gave Gilmer County all it could handle that night.
“We didn’t have a large group to begin with, so we thought it might be best to go ahead and get a look at him. We were able to make a play at the end of (regulation) to tie the game and send the game to overtime. We even had to have a conversion at the end to even push it that far,” Reichard said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t have a good set in the overtime period and got beat.”
Although Meadow Bridge came up a little short in the final game, the momentum and confidence gained is clearly something that has carried over to the current campaign.
“Most of those kids are coming back. I commended those kids to be 2-7 and in the final seconds of your final game and you are still kicking and fighting to get a win,” Reichard said. “I see it as a positive in regards to their character and what they would like for themselves.”
The biggest takeaway for Thomas on that night in Glenville was confidence that he could get the job done as the starting quarterback.
“I was pretty nervous going in, but I thought I played pretty good for the situation I was put in,” Thomas said. “I didn’t think I had an arm that was good enough to play quarterback. At Gilmer County I realized I could get the ball in places that I wanted it. That game motivated me to keep working harder at this position and to be the best I can be.”
While Thomas won’t knock you over with his size, he looks to be the perfect fit for Meadow Bridge who will return this year to a more traditional Power-I formation.
“Braydon is an intelligent kid in the classroom and he is student of the game. He is learning a lot in these first few days of practice and he is able to process information,” Reichard said. “He has a grasp of what is going on and I see that as a strength. He is a smaller kid, not your prototypical pocket passer or anything like that. However, for what we are going to ask him to do in power run game and the play-action pass game, we feel like he can get the job done.”
Thomas is convinced that a more balanced attack will better fit his game and make him a more effective passer in the long run.
“We will be running the ball most of the time, but it’s nice to get a break from throwing it so much,” Thomas said. “I don’t think I could do what (former Meadow Bridge starting quarterback) Dustin Adkins did throwing it like 40 times per game. Being a little more balanced, I feel like we can run more play-action this year. We will do what we can to win.”
Although Thomas is confident he can get the job done, starting quarterback is not exactly where he saw himself entering high school.
“It is a big difference for me. The first year (freshman) I was a running back and last year I was a wide receiver most of the time,” Thomas said. “This year it is a big step up to starting quarterback. I am pretty excited and I am ready for the season to start.”
The new starting quarterback also understands the leadership role that goes with the position.
“My first two years here I had good people that showed me what leaders are suppose to do,” Thomas said. “I feel like I can step into that role and try and recreate what they have done.”
Thomas has also made it clear that he doesn’t want a repeat of last season and believes the Wildcats can fight their way back to the postseason this year.
“Losing to everybody and getting our butts whooped, that feeling sucks. We would really like to win some games this year and compete in the playoffs,” Thomas said. “I think we have put in enough work and we are all motivated. I think we can get there if we try our hardest.”
Meadow Bridge opens the season at home against Van on Aug. 25.
