Hit or Miss: Jen Blanco

It’s good to back. 

Braden River running back Raymond Thomas made his return Aug. 26 at Bayshore and the senior proved he has recovered well from his torn ACL suffered last October.

Thomas had 11 carries for 173 yards, including a 67-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter, to lead the Pirates to a 36-0 shutout over the Bruins. 

It wasn’t until after the game that Thomas realized how big of an impact he made. 

“I honestly didn’t know I had that many rushing yards,” Thomas said. “It just felt great to be back with the team.” 

Of course, Thomas’ name wasn’t the only one routinely being called out over the loudspeaker at Balvanz Stadium last Friday night. 

Senior quarterback Louis Colosimo also had a successful night, throwing three touchdowns in his Braden River debut. Defensively, Devontay Seabrooks recovered a fumble on the second play of the game and later aided Tyrone Collins in forcing a safety. 

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The Lakewood Ranch High football team knew what it was up against, it just didn’t have a way of handling the speed and elusiveness of Tampa Jesuit running back Malik Davis. 

Lakewood Ranch struggled to contain the Tigers senior running back, who rushed for four first-half touchdowns, as Tampa Jesuit rolled to a 39-3 victory Aug. 25 in the season opener for both teams. 

Davis, who already has 30 college scholarship offers, rushed for nearly 200 yards in a little more than a half. Last season, Lakewood Ranch held Davis, who rushed for 2,337 yards and 28 touchdowns on the year, to his lowest output of the season with 71 yards. 

Lakewood Ranch had its chances early in the first quarter against a Tigers team that reached the state semifinals in 2015. The Mustangs forced a pair of first-quarter turnovers, but were only able to turn them into three points. Sophomore kicker Travis Freeman connected on a 33-yard field goal for Lakewood Ranch’s only points of the game. 

The Mustangs return home Sept. 2 to face Bayshore, which lost its season opener 36-0 to Braden River. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. 

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The Out-of-Door Academy swim team picked up where it left off last season, as both the Thunder boys and girls teams opened the season with victories against Port Charlotte Aug. 23. 

Kate Patrice (50- and 100-yard freestyles) Reece Whatmore (200 individual medley and 100 butterfly) and Sarsen Whatmore (200 freestyle and 100 backstroke) all won multiple events for ODA. 

Zach Szmania (100 breaststroke), Laszlo Tengerdy (100 freestyle), Imola Csendes (200 freestyle), Peter Cornetet (50 freestyle) and Thomas Naylor (500 freestyle) also picked up individual wins for the Thunder.