It must be a difficult name to live up to when you’re an athlete with the first name of “Star.”
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Star Thomas III is doing fine with that.
Thomas, a junior, is the starting quarterback at Orange High. Last week he threw for 439 yards and four touchdowns in a 49-14 win over North Torrance. Thomas completed 17 of his 21 passes, and he also rushed for 122 yards and a touchdown on eight carries.
He was a Foxtrot League co-MVP last season when he passed for 3,332 yards and 27 touchdowns and ran for 814 yards and six touchdowns in 11 games. He finished the season with a county-leading 4,146 yards of total offense. He completed 67 percent of his passes.
Orange head coach Robert Pedroza said Thomas does everything required to be a star.
“That kid’s always working,” Pedroza said. “On Sundays he’ll be out running sprints with the track team. I try to find things about him to make me mad at him, but I can’t.”
Thomas has played basketball and competed in track and field as a sprinter and long jumper at Orange. He is unsure if he will continue to pursue those sports this school year.
For sure, though, is Thomas’ belief that participating in basketball and track have made him a better football player.
“Basketball has helped with my agility and elusiveness,” he said. “With track, you learn that speed of getting downhill and breaking away from tacklers.”
Thomas (6-0, 185) has offers from Arkansas, Colorado State, Southern Methodist University, Syracuse, USC and others.
“All the college recruiters who see him say he’s the most accurate passer they’ve seen,” Pedroza said.
Thomas has been the Panthers’ starting quarterback since the first game of his freshman year. That must have been overwhelming, even scary.
“It was,” Thomas said. “Being out there for the first time, the crowd and having this huge responsibility. Around the time we got into league, about five games into the season, I started getting the hang of it.”
Pedroza said Thomas is faster and stronger than ever this season.
“He really worked on his body and his speed,” Pedroza said. “His 30-yard runs of last year are going to be 60- or 70-yard runs this year. The muscle he’s added make him harder to tackle.”
And, Pedroza said, his knowledge of the game has grown.
“Star makes the good decisions we trust him to make,” Pedroza said. “He watches film every day. I think that’s why our offense works so well, because of his consistently good decisions.”
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Thomas feels very much in control now as a quarterback and as a team leader.
“I’m staying more disciplined on the field,” he said. “And I’m trying to keep building more chemistry and more camaraderie with the guys.”
Orange was 6-5 overall last year and went 3-2 in the Foxtrot League. The Panthers are in the Foxtrot League again this season, with Beckman, El Dorado, El Toro, Irvine and Segerstrom. They play a nonleague game at Laguna Beach on Friday.
The Panthers should be better this season. Thomas’ receivers include transfer KJ Woodbury and returners Malahki Allen, Dylan Stone and Adam Maldonado. Woodbury was All-Alpha League last season at Mission Viejo.
“This year is going to be different because, for one thing, the way our offensive line has developed,” Pedroza said. “The last two years, we didn’t have an offensive line like this around Star.”
Thomas’ full first name is Starlone, just like his father and grandfather. He likes having Star as his first name, and sees it as a challenge.
“I feel like having the name Star gives me something I have to work up for, for sure,” he said.
Star is shining bright under the Friday night lights.
NOTES
• This is the second week of high school football, which is called Week 1. Last week was the first week of football, which is called Week 0. With so many teams now playing in Week 0 it’s time to call that Week 1. …
• There were eight teams in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 football playoffs last season. The top eight teams this season in Division 1 according to the rankings — at HSratings.com — that will be used to determine the playoff divisions are: St. John Bosco, Corona Centennial, Sierra Canyon, Santa Margarita, Mater Dei, Mission Viejo, Servite and Chaparral. Orange Lutheran is No. 9 in those rankings. …
• The girls volleyball Dave Mohs Memorial Tournament is Sept. 4-5 at Edison High. It is annually among Southern California’s better early-season girls volleyball tournaments. The tournament’s 12-team Division 1 includes Mater Dei and Santa Margarita, which are ranked 1-2 in the Orange County top 10. Also in the bracket are No. 4 Newport Harbor, No. 5 San Juan Hills, No. 8 JSerra and No. 10 San Clemente, along with always-tough Marymount of Los Angeles. County No. 9 Corona del Mar is in the tournament’s Division 2 bracket. …
• The Woodbridge Classic, the most prestigious early-season cross country meet in Orange County, is Sept. 18-19 at Great Park in Irvine. …
• Isaiah Williamson, a 6-4 guard who was All-Sunset League in boys basketball last season as a sophomore at Los Alamitos, has transferred to Mater Dei. Monarchs coach Gary McKnight said he did not know if Williamson will make the residence change that would make him eligible for the beginning of the season or if Williamson would have to observe the sit-out period – the first 50 percent of the varsity season of sport – required for transfers who do not make a valid change of residence. …
• Tim Wurmlinger, a 6-5 forward who averaged 3 points a game last season at Mater Dei, transferred to Los Alamitos. Wurmlinger lives in the Los Alamitos district and will miss time during the sit-out period. …
• According to the National Federation of High School Associations, the number of girls playing flag football has increased from 68,847 last school year to 102,360 now. Girls wrestling is another fast-growing sport, from 74,064 last school year to an expected 88,771 this school year.
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