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  • Baldwin high sophomore quarterback DeAndre Thomas, left, and the Braves’ outstanding offensive front put pressure on the Northside-Columbus defense for virtually the entire game Friday night. David Brent Martin

    Thomas brothers ‘set tone’ as Braves rumble past Patriots in round one

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November 14, 2009

Thomas brothers ‘set tone’ as Braves rumble past Patriots in round one

Tremendous offensive line play, a speedy rushing attack and a stifling defense pace Baldwin to 40-7 victory

David Brent Martin

Bring on the Syrupmakers!

With an offensive attack led by quarterback DeAndre Thomas and running backs Brandon Thomas and Altovise Harris, the Baldwin Braves took control of the Northside-Columbus Patriots early Friday night and coasted to a 40-7 victory.

The Region 3-AAA champion Braves would set the tone in the game’s opening play when Brandon Thomas took the opening kickoff and raced 96 yards for the early 7-0 lead.

“I had to get to the zone and the set the tone,” said Thomas after the game in reference to his big opening play. “And that’s my way of setting the tone.”

Baldwin’s talented Kitray Solomon led all tacklers with seven. Janerrio Bonnor and Kentarius Cooper each had five tackles apiece. Baldwin junior Shavon Griswold had four tackles, and reining Player of the Week cover corner Kelvin Simmons finished with three tackles and one interception.

“I feel pretty good — I’m proud of the team. We stepped it up. We stepped our passing game up, and we proved that we are going on and hopefully we can continue to pull it out. We got a big win, now we must come back and be focused,” said Brandon Thomas as he celebrated with his teammates after the game.

“We’ve been working hard all week. We had a good week of practice and practice pays off,” said Baldwin defensive back Kelvin Simmons after the game.

“We’ve worked real hard and it shows out here on the field,” said Baldwin senior Antwain Harris in echoing his teammates remark.

“We just take it one week at a time. We’re ready for next week now,” said a determined Altovise Harris after the game. Harris finished the game with two rushing touchdowns and over 100 yards rushing.

“We just came to play ball tonight,” said DeAndre Thomas. “We’re looking forward to who we have to play in the second round.”

“I’ll tell you what, I think we set the tone tonight when Brandon took that thing all the way back,” said a happy Jesse Hicks after the game. “It’s just a great job from all of them. DeAndre had his first start and did a great job. He made a couple of mistakes, but that’s understandable. All and all, I’m real proud of what the guys did tonight. We lived to fight another week.”

Baldwin’s coach was quick to point out that the road will certainly get tougher next week, when the defending champion Cairo Syrupmakers come to town for the second round.

“We’ve got to swallow this one — and be proud and be happy. You know, we’ve got a game next week and it’s one of the better teams in the state — Cairo, the defending champions,” said Hicks. “We’ve got to be ready for that.”

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