Glens Falls center glad he returned to football
Thompson Collins took a break between youth football and varsity football, a six-year hiatus in all.
Saturday afternoon at the Syracuse Carrier Dome, Collins quietly went about his business as usual working as the starting center and nose guard for the Glens Falls football team. His presence on both sides of the ball again proved vital to the Indians as they captured the Class B state title with a 55-32 triumph over Batavia.
“This is awesome. To be able to do this with my best friends, guys I played with in flag football and Pop Warner, is just incredible,” Collins said. “I wouldn’t want to do it with anybody else.”
Collins, a 6-foot-3, 235-pound senior, shared Section II Class B North Division Defensive Player of the Years honors with teammate Nick Danahy. In the title game against Batavia, Collins made five solo stops and added two assists.
“He was rock solid for us on both sides of the ball,” Glens Falls coach Pat Lilac said. “To have a kid play nose guard and center, controlling the interior of the line the entire year, and the importance to this team cannot be undersold. He was cerebral and a true leader.”
As a youngster, Collins lost interest in football. Many of his current teammates talked him into coming back to the field for his sophomore year. Saturday, the senior basked in the glow of helping capture a state championship.
Collins certainly played a huge part in the Indians’ overall success. As a run-stopper in the middle who often was blocked by two players, Collins’ contributions were undeniable. Saturday’s task was trying to slow down Batavia senior star running back Ray Leach.
Leach rushed for
410 yards and three touchdowns and added a receiving touchdown, which is four touchdowns fewer than the eight each he produced during wins in the quarterfinals and semifinals.
Teammates and coaches certainly understand Collins’ importance to the 2018 squad’s success.
Fans usually notice standouts such as quarterback Joseph Girard
III, running back Aalijah Sampson and receivers David Barclay and Trent Girard. All four of those players excelled against the Blue Devils. Noticing centers? Not so much. But the offense started every play with Collins snapping the ball to Girard in the Indians’ spread offense. Saturday, Collins performed his task flawlessly, plus protected Girard as he threw for
314 yards and helped lead Sampson to 135 yards rushing and four touchdowns.
“I played guard last year,” Collins said.
“Coach Lilac gave me a ball during the summer and said, ‘Hey, start snapping.’ He wanted to put Connor (Girard) at guard and me at center. I told him I had never snapped before, but I will give it a try. My first few snaps the first week, I must say, were definitely not like the ones I had tonight.”
“I don’t think he had one botched snap all year,” Girard said of Collins. “Credit to him for adapting. He showed he is probably one of the best linemen in the state. He has big size, good feet and he is just really athletic.”
Collins lives down the road from Girard.
The senior quarterback considers Collins his best friend, so he smiled when hearing questions regarding him knowing his buddy has operated in a world of anonymity.
Collins is not that comfortable talking about his own exploits, but he had no trouble speaking about what Saturday’s title victory meant to him, the rest of his teammates —someofwhomwereresponsible for leading the senior back to the game — and Section II football.
“This means everything,” Collins said. “We did it for our community. We did it for our friends that have supported us. Just to show that Section II has that firepower, that we can do it too, feels great.”
jallen@timesunion.com 518-454-5062 @Tusidelines