Music (and TD) producer
Vikings’ Tomblin has distinguished himself on the football field ... and as one of nation’s top French horn players
East Lyme — His former band director at East Lyme High School, Sue Johnston, had the opportunity to observe Isaac Tomblin last year during study hall.
“He would switch from a total nerd conversation about music or physics and start talking sports with someone else … effortlessly,” said Johnston, now retired, who calls Tomblin “a phenom.”
“It's unbelievable,” East Lyme football coach Rudy Bagos said of the 17-year-old Tomblin, his team's senior captain and successful, 6-foot, 205-pound fullback. “When I first heard of him and heard of his musical prowess (Tomblin plays the French horn), it was unbelievable. You see him on the field. It doesn't add up. … He's like what we like to call a dude on the field. He's as tough as they get.” Football. First off, Tomblin has a freshly cut Mohawk, which some of the guys got this week in preparation for the Vikings' Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I matchup Friday night against Norwich Free Academy. East Lyme, 1-9 a year ago, is 5-1 overall, 2-0 in Division I headed into the game, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at East Lyme.
Tomblin has rushed for 100 or more yards in nine straight games dating back to last season.
This year, he has carried the ball 136 times for 752 yards and seven touchdowns, scoring at least one touchdown in every game. Tomblin averages a workmanlike 5.5 yards per carry — sometimes dragging a defender or two with him — and 125.3
yards per game, his best effort coming in a Week 2 victory over Stratford in which he rushed 24 times for 156 yards.
“I give it 100 percent for my dudes,” said Tomblin, also an All-ECC pick at inside linebacker last year. “If it's fourth-and-one and coach gives it to me, it's up to me. Even if I get met at the line of scrimmage, I've got to find a way to get the yard. It's kind of businesslike, but passionate. It's about the team.” Music. A few days after Tomblin plays in the Vikings' annual Thanksgiving day football game against Waterford — he was East Lyme's MVP in the 2016 edition — he'll head for Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., where he will take part in the 2017 All-National Honor Ensembles Symphony Orchestra. Tomblin will serve as section leader for the French horns.
“He made first horn in the entire country. He makes everything. He's phenomenal; I can't even tell you,” Johnston said. “He auditioned and I was very mad at him. We (video) recorded it and he had on shorts. I made him dress up and we recorded it again the next day. He said, 'The first one is better. Miss J., my recording in the shorts is the one we're using.'”
“I've never really compared the two,” said Tomblin of the two starkly different aspects of his life. “I'm Isaac, you know. Both those things make up who I am. Football's much more social. Music is much more personal and emotional.”
Tomblin wants to get dual college degrees in chemical engineering and music. He's in the process of applying to MIT in Cambridge, Mass., where he would also have the chance to play Division III football; Northwestern in Evanston, Ill., close enough to see the Chicago skyline; the University of Illinois; and West Virginia University, alma mater of both his parents.
“He talks about his family. He talks about religion. It's amazing how he's able to balance this. He's not your typical 17-18-year-old,” Bagos said. “He's one of those guys it's hard to explain. He's well-respected among everybody in the school community.
“Here he is, an upperclassman, a senior, and I saw him getting a ride to school on the bus the other day and he got off with his French horn. … I'm pretty sure I'll never find another one like him.”
••••• Tomblin's parents, Brandy and Zach, both 38, had Isaac when they were college students, both going on to graduate from West Virginia. Isaac has three younger siblings, Abigail, 11; Hannah, 7; and Elijah, 15 months.
“You can look at each piece of life from a different perspective,” Tomblin said of the different age ranges of children at home, then adding with a laugh, “It's a little bit of a mess. I don't know how my mom does it.”
The family moved from Hurricane, W.Va. — pronounced Hurr-a-kin — to Salem during Tomblin's freshman year.
“My family has three ingrained values,” Tomblin said. “We're very religious. We're a Christian family — following whatever God's plan is for you — being well-rounded and the work ethic piece is really, really important. … I've been blessed with a lot of things. I have a great family. The effort piece was a big thing for me; the one thing I can control is my effort.”
••••• If ever Johnston had to miss school during her final year of teaching, she would leave a plan instructing the substitute teacher to let Tomblin conduct.
During Johnston's last concert in May, she allowed Tomblin to conduct a medley of Star Trek music. The only problem was, Tomblin forgot his conductor's score from which to read during the piece. He directed it anyway, with Johnston (also a French horn player) under his leadership.
“It kept having changes in tempo, changes in time. He totally conducted it from memory,” Johnston said. “He cued everything. It's like he had it in his brain. He's so musical. One of the things about music is it's not just playing notes. You have to connect emotionally. He can totally do that. He had them in the palm of his hand. He had me in the palm of his hand. I was thrilled to play for him.”
Johnston said Tomblin is the first East Lyme musician ever to make the national-level symphony.
She calls him “brilliant” and “charismatic.”
“We're very similar individuals,” Tomblin said of Johnston. “The only way I can describe it, it's kind of like brother-sister. We loved each other. There were times we'd fight and bicker, but we saw a lot of each other in the other person. I'm very passionate about music, just like her.”
••••• Tomblin, behind an offensive line of bulldozers this season at East Lyme, is part of a running game which has averaged 229.2 yards per game, 328.2 yards offense per game overall.
The Vikings, with only a Week 1 loss to Killingly, are vying for their first winning record since 2013. More than that, East Lyme can solidify its standing in Division I of the ECC with a victory over NFA (3-3, 1-1), the defending Division I champion and a Class LL state tournament qualifier in five of the last seven seasons.
Bagos calls Tomblin an extension of the coaching staff. “He'll say, 'Why don't we try blocking it this way,'” Bagos said. “… He's excelling on the field. For really a fullback, his plays are kind of limited in what we do; he's our between the tackles kind of guy. But we really work our offense around him.
“One of the things I really like about him is it's not about him. He just wants the team to win. I wish he was here freshman year, he probably would have been starting then, too. I'm glad to have had him for three years, for sure. He just makes things go for us. He set the bar high … for all student athletes.”
Earlier this week, the East Lyme offense was still practicing at the remote Doyle Field, behind the Flanders Elementary School, as the sun began to set, running plays against the scout team.
This season, Tomblin said, has been the light at the end of the tunnel for a once-young team which has taken its knocks.
“The past few years coach had said, 'I'm investing in the long term,'” Tomblin said. “We played dudes who were younger. When I was a sophomore, I played next to Dalton Franco at inside linebacker and he was a freshman. I played next to him for all of my high school.
“It's nice to work hard and have it pay off.”