Ware Student is Week Nine Coastal Pines Technical College Player of the Week
October 31, 2019 04:44 PM
By Kevin Price
912 Sports will name a Coastal Pines Technical College (CPTC) Player of the Week each week during the 2019 high school football season. The week nine winner of the CPTC Award is Ware County’s sophomore quarterback, Thomas Castellanos.
Going into last Friday night, five quarterbacks had won the Coastal Pines Technical College Player of the Week award in the first nine weeks of the 2019 season.
Now, you can make that six quarterbacks in 10 weeks as Thomas Castellanos from Ware County has put his name on the list of award winners following a huge individual performance this past Friday night in the Gators’ 49-28 victory over South Effingham at Memorial Stadium in Waycross.
The sensational sophomore signal-caller put on a show for all of the Ware alums on Homecoming nigh as he rushed for 227 yards and four touchdowns on 14 carries for the Gators. He also threw for 65 yards as he completed 7 of 13 passes for the game.
“Thomas has put together a really good couple of weeks, but last Friday was his most consistent game of the year,” said Ware head coach Jason Strickland. “The offensive line did a great job of creating seams for him, and he took full advantage.
“He knows the kind of player we need him to be for us to be successful offensively and he has been working extremely hard to be that guy. I’m certainly glad he’s on our side.”
The touchdown runs by Castellanos covered 52, 30, 63 and 11 yards. He scored twice in the first half and twice after halftime. His 52-yard score came on a fourth-and-1 play in the first quarter.
For the season, Castellanos is Ware’s leading rusher with 638 yards and he is also the team’s leading scorer with 10 touchdowns. Through the air, he has passed for 595 yards and five scores while throwing six interceptions in eight games. Last fall, Castellanos also started at quarterback for the Gators as a freshman. He passed for 1,257 yards and 11 TDs while running for another 804 yards and 14 touchdowns.
His 227 yards on the ground this past Friday gave him a new career-high mark. His previous single-game best was 149 yards last year in the opening round of the Class AAAAA playoffs against Riverdale.
The Gators, ranked ninth this week by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, are now 5-3 overall and 2-0 in Region 2-AAAAA. They are headed for another showdown with Wayne County next week in the season finale that will decide the region champion. Ware is first set to play at New Hampstead this Friday.
The Player of the Week award winners in the 912 Sports coverage area are listed below. The first five names on the list are all quarterbacks. The other winners were defensive players including Tony Bethea, Nathan Vickers and Dawson Thomas. Trent Johnson is a running back.
The Gators are currently the only school to have multiple award winners.
Players of the Week
Week 0 - Jermaine Brewton (Pierce County)
Week 1 - Logan Watson (Camden County)
Week 2- Tyler Morehead (Clinch County)
Week 3 - Trey Cloud (Toombs County)
Week 4 - Dionte Bowens (Liberty County)
Week 5 - Tony Bethea (Ware County)
Week 6 - Trent Johnson (McIntosh County Academy)
Week 7 - Nathan Vickers (Richmond Hill)
Week 8 - Dawson Thomas (Brantley County)
Week 9 - Thomas Castellanos (Ware County)

Thomas Castellanos receiving his award from Cassie Clemons, CPTC's Director of Library Services.
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