Shad Thomas has been the man-in-charge at the quarterback position for the Duchesne Eagles football team as he guided them to the 1-A state championship game in his junior season.

Duchesne's Thomas started the first game of the season (40-0 win over Carbon) at quarterback, but he shared the position early on with fellow Eagle Shiaba Allen. Shortly after the Carbon game, Thomas took over the position fulltime with Allen seeing action as a tight end, who scored several touchdowns.

“Thomas is a really great leader, who doesn't make many mistakes. If he throws an interception it is usually my fault because I called the wrong play. We threw the ball in past games when we needed to. Thomas is able to get a pass to a player when called to do so,” said Duchesne head coach Billy Hoopes.

With strong running backs, Devin Fabrizio, Travis Potter, Jacob Verde, Macoy Young and Braiden Despain, and a talented line, Kyle Wilkerson, Austin Thompson, Marty Burt, Grant Marett, Isaac McKee and Dillen Grant (McKee and Grant split one line spot this season) the Eagles have pretty much run the ball for a good portion of games.

“We passed the ball in certain situations when Thomas made the right reads,” said Coach Hoopes. However, Thomas was on the ground when he ran one yard for a touchdown that gave Duchesne a 15-0 lead over Monticello in the second quarter of a semifinals game, which the Eagles won 22-12 to reach the title game.

“Our line gave him (Thomas) some good blocks for the touchdown score,” said Coach Hoopes. “They did the job all year by giving Thomas plenty of protection to pass the ball or get down the field.”

Thomas wasn't just an offensive general as he also starred on the defensive side of the ball as a cornerback. He had two interceptions that locked up the semifinal win over Monticello.

“He was 'manned-up' on a guy and Monticello's quarterback made the mistake of passing the ball in Thomas' direction. Our line put a lot of pressure on him (Monticello's signal caller) and he had to get rid of the ball. Thomas was there at the DHS 5-yard line for an interception,” Coach Hoopes said. “He also grabbed an interception a few minutes later at our 30-yard line.” The two plays by Thomas locked up the win over Monticello for Duchesne.

Coach Hoopes stressed that a person can't be a quarterback without being a leader on the field and has seen improvement from Thomas in his second year at the position. He started at quarterback as a sophomore.

“He has become more mature as a junior. He is better at getting into position to make the right play,” said Coach Hoopes. His dad Ray Thomas played sports at Tabiona High School.

Duchesne showed off a strong running game this past season, but Devan Jones and Alex Remund were talented receivers for the Eagles.

“We ran the ball a lot, but we also were capable of throwing the ball at any time. Receivers Jones and Remund weren't just standing out there,” stated Coach Hoopes. Often Jones and Remund made key pass catches of balls tossed by Thomas, who showed the ability to run, but to also hit his receivers to fool opposing defensive players.

Prior to the championship game, Duchesne beat Carbon, 40-0; toppled North Summit, 14-7; whipped Whitehorse, 48-0; downed Layton Christian, 44-29; defeated Monument Valley, 56-30; downed Monticello, 38-6 and edged Altamont, 19-6. Duchesne won a first round game over Monument Valley, 48-12.

Thomas scored touchdowns as follows: 1-yard run vs. Carbon, 10-yard fumble recovery run vs. Whitehorse; 1-yard run vs. Monticello, 2-yard run vs. Altamont and 20-yard run vs. Monument Valley. He threw for two touchdowns in the win over North Summit and fired TD passes to Remund and Jones in the first game vs. Monticello. He also made a touchdown pass to Allen in the playoff contest win over Monument Valley. (Information on touchdowns in the first game vs. Monument Valley wasn't available.)