Arizona Coaches Association

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Don Ketchum
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 16, 2006 12:00 AM
[url]http://www.azcentral.com/community/peoria/articles/0616nw-thomas0616Z2.html[/url]

Kenton Thomas returned to the desert this week after visiting relatives in Southern California, and it's time to turn up the heat.

The running back from Greenway High welcomes the challenge of playing with and against the top Class 5A and 4A players in the state in Saturday night's Arizona Coaches Association North-South All-Star Game at Surprise Stadium. Kickoff is at 8 p.m.

The game for players in classes 3A through 1A will be played at 8 tonight at Surprise Stadium.

"Ever since my freshman year, I've wanted a chance to play in this game," said Thomas, who will play for the South team.

"I'm going to see how I hang with the other players I've heard and read about, see how I compare."

There weren't many whose senior seasons could compare with the one that the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Thomas had.

He had a combined 2,473 yards rushing and receiving and scored 29 touchdowns.

He was named to The Republic's All-Arizona team and signed a letter of intent to play for the University of Utah.

Thomas will be joined on the South team by two Greenway teammates, defensive back Nick Certo and offensive lineman Zak Himmelberger.

"We're going to do whatever we can to go out with a win," Thomas said.

His four years at Greenway "went by just like that," he said.

At Greenway, the offense was much the same as it will be at Utah, with Thomas being used primarily out of the slot to take advantage of his receiving skills as well as running with the ball.

He visited Salt Lake City and said the atmosphere "was awesome. They have a good program, and I think I can fit in well there.

"I've been put in motion a lot, and I think that makes me more difficult to cover. And if the defense decides to double-team me, that should leave someone else open on the other side of the field."

Thomas played Pop Warner for three or four years in California before moving to Arizona at around age 11.

Even with his experience, he said, he was terrified the first few times he played varsity ball.

"Then I became a lot more comfortable and was a lot more confident," he said.

This spring, as graduation neared, he admitted he "stressed out" as he worked toward getting a satisfactory score on the ACT to make sure he qualified for college.

He did, and now he is back to lifting weights as he prepares for his first year at Utah.

Playing in the All-Star game should help.