New York, N.Y. – Carson-Newman senior quarterback De'Andre Thomas (Milledgeville, Ga.) and wideout/return specialist TraShaun Ward (Miami, Fla.) have made USA Football's preseason All-America team.
Thomas is listed on the first team while Ward appears on the second team.
Thomas was a first team All-SAC quarterback, pushing his consecutive start streak to 23 as he started all 10 games under center as a junior. Thomas continued to showcase his capabilities under center rushing for 850 yards with 12 touchdowns and passing for 1,170 yards with nine scores.
Thomas' best performance came in the Eagles 35-33 win over Catawba (9/27). He earned both SAC and TSWA offensive player of the week honors after passing for 173 yards and a score while rushing for four more touchdowns and 104 yards. He passed for a season-high 208 yards against Mars Hill (10/4).
Thomas came within a rushing touchdown against the Indians of tying the school record for TDs in a single game. He had four, the school record is five, held by Buck Wakefield. Thomas also found the end zone multiple times on the ground against Lenoir-Rhyne (11/1) and MHU. He passed for multiple touchdowns against Edinboro (9/4), Brevard (9/20) and Tusculum (10/18). All his nine touchdown passes came in the season's first six weeks.
Thomas is on the cusp of home the top spot on several of Carson-Newman's career categories. He needs 17 rushing touchdowns to match Buck Wakefield's school record of 51. With another 100 pass completions, Thomas would become the Sparks-era record-holder for the category and be in the top three all-time.
He needs 2,867 yards of total offense (roughly equivalent to his offensive output from his sophomore season) to move past Alex Good and take over the top spot for career total offense. Additionally, he needs 25 more TD's to surpass Good for the most touchdowns responsible for in a Carson-Newman career with 87.
Meanwhile, Ward has already cemented himself in the Carson-Newman record books. He already holds the school records for most kickoff returns (87) and kickoff return yards (1,942). However, Ward is still looking for his first career kickoff return for a touchdown in spite of having four career returns of 50 yards or longer, including two on the plus side of 80 yards.
In his junior year, he was second on the team in all purposes yards with 915. He rushed for two, was Carson-Newman' second leading-receiver with 292, grabbed 68 in punt return yards and 553 in kickoff returns.
Ward's best games catching the ball came in succession against Brevard, Catawba and Mars Hill. He caught three passes for 79 yards and a score against the Tornadoes. He looped in a quartet of receptions, including the game-sealing touchdown, for 59 yards against Catawba before tallying a career high 96 yards on three catches and a touchdown against Mars Hill.
Carson-Newman opens the season Sept. 3 against the University of the Cumberlands (Ky.) at 7 p.m. at Burke-Tarr Stadium. Coverage of that game will be available on the Eagle Sports Network on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville) and Mountain Country 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville), as well as online at cneagles.com/live with a free high definition video stream.
