{"id":288795,"date":"2026-09-18T09:14:21","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T09:14:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/288795\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T09:14:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T09:14:21","slug":"lake-erie-football-looking-for-3-0-start-with-electric-curtis-thomas-of-eastlake-north-news-herald","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/288795\/","title":{"rendered":"Lake Erie football looking for 3-0 start with \u2018electric\u2019 Curtis Thomas of Eastlake North \u2013 News-Herald"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There aren\u2019t many things in a football game that can ignite a team or deflate hopes quite like a kickoff return for a touchdown.<\/p>\n<p>Coach David Price can attest to that. Because of it, he\u2019s thankful Curtis Thomas is on his team.<\/p>\n<p>The Eastlake North graduate, slot receiver and kickoff returner for the Storm made a huge play in his team\u2019s 23-7 win at Wheeling on Sept. 12.<\/p>\n<p>With his team in front at halftime, 10-7, LEC was set to receive the second-half kickoff. Seconds after that happened, Thomas was gone 100 yards to the house in a game that had three delays because of inclement weather.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was a major emphasis in winning that football game,\u201d said Price.<\/p>\n<p>In a blink, LEC led, 17-7, and never looked back en route to a victory that pushed the Storm to just its second-ever 2-0 start to a season in program history.<\/p>\n<p>A lot went into the victory. LEC\u2019s running back tandem of Julian Means-Flewellen and Hakeem Ouran combined for 196 rushing yards and the defense played its second straight solid game, but there\u2019s no denying the impact of Thomas\u2019 big play on special teams.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/LakeErieFB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">@LakeErieFB<\/a> coach <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CoachDPrice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">@CoachDPrice<\/a> on kickoff returner Curtis Thomas of Eastlake North and the impact of special teams. Last week, Thomas returned a kickoff 100 yards for a TD vs Wheeling. <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/LakeErieStorm?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">@LakeErieStorm<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NHPreps?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">@NHPreps<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ZQekHZrlCO\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/ZQekHZrlCO<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Mark Podolski (@mpodo) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/mpodo\/status\/2100676737080193523?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">September 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur program\u2019s talked a ton about momentum,\u201d said Price. \u201cBeing able to come out and immediately put six points on the board was huge for us. That was a major emphasis in winning that football game.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas\u2019 100-yard kickoff return earned him Special Teams Player of the Week honor in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. Last season during his first year in Painesville, Thomas also had a school-record 93-yard reception, so the evidence of his big-play ability was already in place.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s electric, I promise you,\u201d Price said about Thomas. \u201cWhen you start talking about who Curt is, that\u2019s his personality. Every single aspect of his play is electric. He\u2019s a guy that anytime he touches the football, he has a chance to break one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas (5-foot-9, 160 pounds) originially committed and attended FCS playoff contender South Dakota out of North for two seasons. In high school, he was a running back, wide receiver, cornerback and safety.<\/p>\n<p>While at South Dakota, Thomas said it was a time for him to \u201clearn and grow.\u201d Eventually, being so far from home prompted him to reassess and return to Northeast Ohio to find a \u201cbetter fit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt gave me more support from my family,\u201d said Thomas.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas\u2019 ties to LEC could be traced back to when he was a sophomore at North. He attended a football camp at LEC, and also participating was former Euclid standout Howard Drake, who is now the Storm\u2019s wide receivers coach. When Thomas\u2019 name popped into the transfer portal, a natural connection was there between the two.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas\u2019 big draw is his speed and elusiveness. Price said Thomas\u2019 has been clocked in the 40-yard dash in the 4.4-second range.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a good feeling when you know you have a different gear,\u201d said Thomas about his speed.<\/p>\n<p>Up next for LEC is its GMAC opener at Walsh University in North Canton, and a chance to start 3-0. Price\u2019s message to his team is to take up everything another notch.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cConference play is the beginning of our playoffs,\u201d said Price. \u201cEvery single week is our Super Bowl. That\u2019s how we\u2019re preparing. \u2026 We have to make more noise. We have to speak louder, and make in impact on Saturdays.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lake Erie at Walsh University<\/p>\n<p>What: GMAC opener for both teams<\/p>\n<p>When: 7 p.m., Sept. 19<\/p>\n<p>Where: Larry Staudt Field, North Canton<\/p>\n<p>Records: LEC 2-0; Walsh 2-0<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There aren\u2019t many things in a football game that can ignite a team or deflate hopes quite like&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288796,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[2300,136,138,137,6608,241,120027,726],"class_list":["post-288795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-college-sports","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news","tag-lake-erie-college","tag-latest-headlines","tag-north-rangers","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}