NEW PALESTINE — Friday night’s 58th Annual Murat Shrine North/South Football All-Star Classic at Decatur Central will close out a busy week full of hard work and preparation for the top football talent across Indiana.
For a pair of New Palestine representatives, the game will also cap off a week of learning and making connections and will serve as a final chance for the two to share the field.
The Dragons standout running back over the last four seasons, Grayson Thomas, and assistant coach and former player Nick Brickens will take to the gridiron together one last time.
“It’s been an honor to be able to coach this week and get to be with Grayson one more time,” Brickens said. “He was one of the first players that I got to coach at New Pal.”
Although a defensive coach now, Brickens and Thomas have formed a strong connection over the last four seasons. With Brickens having played running back in his senior year with the Dragons, the connection was an easy one to see coming.
“It’s awesome having him here. We were really close at New Pal and he helped me a lot,” Thomas said. “He played running back at New Pal and has given me a lot of great insight, so it’s great to have him here this week.”
The insight Brickens has been able to pass on to Thomas has meant even more this week. In 2016, Brickens was part of the North/South Game as a running back.
“I told him to just soak up all the memories with all these guys that are the best in the state. Getting to meet other guys that are going to be playing in college and other coaches, he’s going to have those connections for life,” Brickens said. “The best advice I could give him is to just meet as many people as you can, have a great experience, and enjoy playing high school ball one last time.”
That advice was not lost on Thomas, who echoed the same statement. With all participants staying in the dorms at the University of Indianapolis for the week, the opportunity to meet new people is front and center. Thomas has also had the chance to start making a bond with Zionsville’s Trevor Henkle who will be joining him at the University of Dayton when the team reports for camp in early August.
“I’m hoping to make a lot of new relationships. When you’ve got this many guys coming together from different schools and districts, you have a lot of different characters on the team, but you also all have this one thing in common,” Thomas said. “By the end of the week, everybody is really close, and I think that’s a really cool thing.”
While Brickens gave that advice to Thomas, he’s also taking everything all in and doing the same on the coaching side of things. With a coaching staff assembled of various head coaches and assistants from around the state, Brickens is taking the opportunity to learn from people he’s admired.
“It’s an honor to get to coach with all these other coaches like [Westfield] Coach [Jake] Gilbert, [East Central] Coach [Jake] Meiners and [North Posey] Coach [Waylon] Schenk. These are all guys that I either played against, coached against, or they coached me. Coach Schenk actually coached me in this game eight years ago,” Brickens said. “It’s been great to learn from all of them and see how other coaches operate. You don’t really think you can learn as much as you do in three days. Just seeing how other coaches operate, run practices and teach has been great. The old saying is, ‘If you can teach you can coach,’ and all of these guys are really, really good teachers. I‘m just trying to learn as much as I can from them.”
While the two have used the week in those regards, they each know there’s still a football game to be played and won on Friday. The pair didn’t lose much together at New Palestine, and they don’t plan on doing so in their last game together. Over Thomas’ four seasons, the Dragons went a combined 39-10, won three sectional titles and one regional championship.
“It’s been a great experience, but it takes a lot of preparation in a short amount of time. We met everyone on Tuesday,” Thomas said. “It’s been a lot of practices, meetings and hard work, but it will all pay off on Friday.”
The game will cap off an outstanding high school career for Thomas and will serve as a stepping stone as he heads off to Dayton in a month. A four-year starter for New Palestine, Thomas ranks second on the school’s career rushing yards (6,202) and touchdowns (93) lists. He is also second all-time in yards from scrimmage (6,317) and points (544) and third in single-season rushing yards (2,304).
“My years at New Pal were all I could hope for and more. I’m super happy with how my high school football career went. I’ll always owe a lot to New Pal and Coach [Kyle] Ralph, so it’s great to be able to represent the school one more time,” Thomas said. “I’m just trying to stay healthy, and I’m super excited to report to Dayton.”
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58th Annual Murat Shrine North/South Football All-Star Classic
GAME INFORMATION
Date: Friday, July 12, 2024
Time: Kickoff at 7 p.m. EST
Place: Decatur Central High School in Indianapolis
GAME TICKET INFORMATION
Adults: In advance ($8.00), At the gate ($10.00), Online at Go Fan ($11.00)
Students: In advance ($4.00), At the gate ($5.00), Online at Go Fan ($6.00)
Go Fan: https://gofan.co/event/1526592?schoolId=IN86890
