DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Thomas' dominant first half sparks Camden Fairview win

The plan for Camden Fairview's offense Friday night was to have as "unphysical" a game as possible, Coach Jake Monden said, in order to give its running backs a rest. According to junior quarterback Martavius Thomas, his coach told him he was in for another big night because of it.

"We just felt like Martavius really grasped what we were trying to do a week ago, through the week in game prep," Monden said. "And he was just amazing Friday night."

Thomas had a game's worth of football under his belt just in the first half, throwing for a season-high 510 yards and 7 touchdowns on 22-of-28 passing. His night was done and he played his part in a 64-3 trouncing of De Queen (7-1).

The quarterback's night was enough to earn him Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Player of the Week honors.

Thomas is 115-of-171 passing for 2,247 yards in 2021. He's also thrown 25 touchdowns to just three interceptions, and he's contributed on the ground, too, rushing for 479 yards and a touchdown on 58 carries.

Thomas has been the program's starting quarterback since the Cardinals' 28-21 loss to Texarkana last season. According to Monden, there were three different players capable of being the starting quarterbacking a year ago, but down 21-0 at halftime to the Razorbacks in Week 6, Thomas helped Camden Fairview score 21 unanswered points and tie the game before Texarkana won on a last-minute touchdown.

Since then, the Cardinals are 10-2 with Thomas at quarterback.

"It means so much to the city, to the community," Thomas said of the recent success. "Really, football is everything here."

Thomas is 128-of-194 passing with 2,505 yards and 30 touchdowns since becoming the team's starter. He averaged 11.25 pass attempts and 64.5 yards a game in the last four games of 2020, but through eight games in 2021, he's averaging 21.4 attempts and 280.9 yards per game.

A large part of that, Thomas said, was a shift this offseason to an offense that coaches told him would utilize much more of his abilities.

"[Offensive coordinator Lance Stone] was like, 'You're the guy,'" Thomas said. "We're not going to shy away from it. ... This is the system we're going to run and I feel like it really compliments your style of play."

Thomas is also a standout baseball player, earning All-Conference honors for Camden Fairview a season ago. He's also committed to play for the University of Arkansas after graduating in 2023. Despite Thomas' success with baseball and a significant travel ball schedule in the summer, he did a "great job," Monden said, of balancing his time between the diamond and offseason football training.

"I think a lot of it is just the loyalty that he has to his teammates, and then obviously the school and the town," Monden said. "We've always been really impressed by the way that he puts a lot into this."