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Thomas' No. 22 Retired

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By EDDIE DANIELS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 28, 2007

WESLEY CHAPEL - With tears freely falling from his eyes, Wiregrass Ranch coach Ricky Thomas tried to refocus himself on the game.

During a pregame ceremony, at midfield inside Wiregrass Ranch Stadium, Pasco athletic director and assistant football coach Jim Ward and several others from the Pirates football staff unveiled Thomas' black, No. 22 jersey.

Holding a wireless microphone, Ward, extolled the job Thomas did as a player and a coach at Pasco.

'Coach Thomas is a great man and a great mentor,' said Ward, who coached on Thomas' staff when he led the Pirates from 1996-2002, 'and we appreciate everything he's done for the youth in east Pasco County.'

That was before Pasco collected a 33-0 victory against the Bulls.

Shortly after exchanging hugs with several of his former assistant coaches, Thomas came back to the Wiregrass sideline with a towel slung over his left shoulder and visibly emotional.

As quick as those emotions bubbled up, the Pirates offense trekked down to the Bulls 1 after forcing the Wiregrass offense to punt on a drive, which netted the Bulls 2 yards.

Apparently, the Bulls defense was devoid of those warm and fuzzy feelings conjured by the pregame activities.

Pasco fumbled on first-and-goal at the Bulls 1 and Wiregrass defender Alex Steinbeck recovered.

Pasco couldn't put anything between itself and the Bulls for the first 2 1/2 quarters. The Pirates (4-4, 3-1 in Class 3A-8) could only register two Brennan Allen field goals.

Pasco didn't cross the goal line until 6:47 left in the third quarter when Demetrious Larry hauled in a 43-yard D.J. Clower pass for the score and a 13-0 Pasco lead.

Wiregrass (0-8, 0-4 3A-8) sputtered on its ensuing drive as did Pasco.

Sophomore safety Chase Dunn snatched a Bulls pass for the first of his two interceptions. That turnover led to a Jamall Haynes 4-yard score with 8:44 left in the fourth quarter.

'I was really impressed with Dunn,' Pasco coach Tom McHugh said. 'He's a sophomore and we put him in at safety a couple of games ago because he is smart. He's still learning. He learned from his mistake. They bit us on that halfback option pass twice and he intercepted it twice.'

Also joining the bunch was linebacker Timmy Saylor, who gathered in a screen pass and ran it back 63-yards for a score.

That gave the Pirates a 26-0 advantage. Pirates running back Willie Jackson sealed the game with a 2-yard plunge with 1:03 left.

As for the jersey, when asked where he plans to hang the memorabilia, Thomas laughed and replied: 'I don't know yet, got to ask my wife. I'm sure we'll talk about it tonight, but I'm real humbled by it. I'm just humbled that my high school thought that much of me as a player.'

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