Senior quarterback Kyle Thomas is on a mission.
Before he heads off to play receiver at Northern Illinois, he’s determined to leave Marian Catholic with the football program heading back in the right direction.
“My goal is to get as much exposure for everybody, including myself,” Thomas said. “Bring back the winning culture and get the alumni to show up to the games sometimes and remember, ‘Oh yeah, this is how it used to feel when Marian was winning.'”
The Spartans are definitely trending upward with Thomas leading the way. Marian improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2009 with Saturday’s 54-7 rout of crosstown rival Bloom.
“It feels great,” Thomas said. “There’s no better feeling. It’s been a while since Marian’s been 3-0. The culture has changed here. It’s more of a family environment. We’re willing to do anything for the brothers next to us.”
First-year coach Nick Lopez, a Marian graduate, could not ask for a better quarterback to set the standard for the type of player Lopez wants in his program.
“What makes Kyle a special player is his leadership and the way he wants to embody the program,” Lopez said. “He wants to make sure everyone is a part of this — everyone is at their best. He looks after everyone.”
Thomas threw two touchdown passes and ran for another in Saturday’s win. For the season, he has completed 8 of 15 passes for 154 yards and three TDs while running 36 times for 200 yards and four TDs.
He’s also played a bit of receiver, catching two passes from junior Carter Magerski against Bloom.
“We’ve definitely been planning to utilize my throwing and running abilities, but not a lot of teams know I can play receiver,” Thomas said. “It’s a different thing, but I’d love to play all positions. I’ll go anywhere.
“Me and Carter do 100 catches before and after practice. We try to get him some more reps at quarterback in practice, and then I go out and play receiver.”
Thomas has played quarterback his whole life but is ready to make the transition to receiver at Northern Illinois.
Thus, he’s trying to make the most out of his final season behind center.
“I’ve been definitely been soaking it in,” Thomas said. “Seeing the defense from that angle, I might not see that again, so I’ve been trying to enjoy it.
“I just like playing football, though. If the ball’s in my hands, I’m happy about that. I want to make the plays.”
Receiver Kaleb Isom and running back Tyler Lofton both praised Thomas for his knowledge of the game.
“He’s got a good IQ,” Isom said. “He knows how to read the defense and he sees the field great.”
Lofton, a sophomore, has been the breakout star this season for the Spartans, rushing for 476 yards and 10 TDs.
He said Thomas is constantly giving him advice about what opposing defenses are likely to do.
“He’s always helping me out,” Lofton said. “He tells me things I’ve never even heard about.”
The Spartans are going after their first playoff bid since 2019 and only their second since 2010.
“We couldn’t ask for a better start,” Lopez said. “We’ve got a long way to go, but it’s a lot easier to get there in the position that we’re in.”
Thomas plans to have his team ready for CCL/ESCC Purple play, starting Saturday against St. Patrick.
“We have to have a short-term memory about these three games and realize that we’re starting over 0-0 in conference and things are going to get intense now,” Thomas said. “We just need to keep practicing hard, have fun and just play football.”
Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.