The fans have spoken.
After a tight race for the first-ever Carter County Sports Male Athlete of the Year award, rising Elizabethton senior tailback Ethan Thomas recorded the honor.
Thomas was a workhorse for a team that went on to capture a Three Rivers Conference regular season after an end-of-the-year tilt against the Sullivan South, a 28-27 last second win.
Thomas edged Cloudland’s Austin Whitehead and Unaka’s Eli Rasnick for the honor. In addition to his success on the field, Thomas was the Three Rivers Conference Male Track Athlete of the Year.
The season saw Thomas make some early exits due to early leads and an injury late in the regular season. Â Regular season rushing stats were not to shabby for the then-junior with 141 carries for 1454 yards and tied tailbacks Phillip Garland (Happy Valley) and Luke Fronckoski (Unicoi County) with a league-leading 17 TDs.
The Cyclones, coached Shawn Witten, opened up the Class 4A playoffs with a 27-20 over Scott County in the opening round before falling to Greeneville 49-20 in the second
round.
Thomas will look to anchor the backfield once again as the Cyclones look to be early favorites in the TRC when autumn rolls around.
