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February 15, 2007

Mosley, Thomas capture Smith Awards

By Dave Rogers

BEAUMONT – Kilgore College athletic director David Castles, the featured speaker at the 15th annual Willie Ray Smith Awards Banquet, spoke Thursday night about the inevitable need for successful people to face and overcome adversity.

If ever a person practiced what Castles preached it has been Nederland’s Micah Mosley.

He overcame one serious injury after another in high school to rush for more than 4,500 yards in his career, earn all-state honors and a Division I football scholarship at the University of North Texas.

Thursday night at the Elegante Hotel, the Beaumont Founders Lions Club added the Willie Ray Smith Award for the best offensive player to Mosley’s honors.

Cornerback Earl Thomas of West Orange-Stark, a University of Texas signee, won the Willie Ray Smith Award for the best defensive player as the awarding of the so-called Southeast Texas Heisman Trophies put a lid on the 2006 football season.

Mosley, a 6-1, 200-pound tailback for the Bulldogs, made Nederland’s varsity as a ninth-grader, but he suffered a broken leg after two games. He missed games with a broken jaw as a junior and had various other ankle and leg problems that slowed him down.

“God knows what his numbers would have been if he’d been completely healthy all the time,” Nederland coach Larry Neumann said.

As it was, Mosley set a school record with 2,432 yards rushing as a senior and was named District 22-4A Offensive MVP and earned a spot on the Port Arthur News’ 35th annual Super Team. His 4,557 career rushing yards also established a school record.

“I remember him from junior high at C.O. Wilson,” Neumann said. “You could see he had tremendous ability then. But his numbers astound me. I don’t think anybody expects someone to have the kind of numbers Micah had for his career or his senior year.

“He overcame lots of adversity. I’m just really proud of him.”

The son of James and Phyllis Mosley told a sold-out ballroom crowd that he was nervous as he gave a short acceptance speech.

“I’ve talked to a lot of newspeople and I always kept my cool,” Mosley said later. “But I was a little jittery up there. When you look at the list of people that have won that thing, this is really something.”

Mosley is the second Willie Ray Smith Award winner from Nederland, following Sean Yoder, who was offensive winner in 2001.

Thomas, a 5-11, 185-pounder, was the second Mustang player to win in as many years, following Kenneth Beasley, who was offensive award winner for 2005.

In all, WO-S has had five Willie Ray Smith winners, with the other three on defense: Charles Sias in 1998, Gayron Allen in 2000, and Jermaine Hope in 2001.

“He (Beasley) kind of made fun of me,” said Thomas, the son of Earl and Debbie Thomas. “He told me I’ve got to take it (the award) home.

“My heart dropped when I heard my name (called). I’m just grateful I got picked. It feels good to take it back home.”

Thomas was the District 21-3A MVP and played on both sides of the ball for WO-S. He had 67 tackles, three interceptions, two kickoff returns for TDs and averaged 33.0 yards on kickoff returns and 15.3 yards on punt returns.

“I knew the competition (for the award) was tough, but I felt like he was deserving,” WO-S coach Dan Hooks said. “He does so many things well. He’s multi-talented.

“He also starts on the basketball team, plays baseball and run track. You don’t find kids like that every day.”

Coaches at 25 area schools nominated a total of 47 players for the Willie Ray Smith Awards. Four offensive and five defensive finalists were selected and those top nine had a seat at the head table for Thursday’s banquet.

Other offensive finalists included Beaumont Central quarterback Brandon Williams, East Chambers quarterback Tramain Thomas and Deweyville running back Justin Williams.

Other defensive finalists included Port Arthur Memorial cornerback Barry Valcin, Central linebacker Andre August, East Chambers linebacker Paul Trammell and West Brook linebacker Jacody Coleman.

Deweyville’s Williams and the East Chambers duo of Thomas and Trammell are juniors. All other finalists are seniors.

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