Cerritos football looks to keep building its program

Barry Thomas is committed to the Cerritos High football program.

Thomas, who coached at Huntington Beach and Millikan previously, heads into his second year as head coach of the Dons and will look to improve on a team that finished the 2016 season with a 2-7 record and a last-place finish in the Suburban League.

“There has been a lot of head coaches in a short amount of time at Cerritos and I plan on being here for a long time,” Thomas said. “Guys that graduated last year saw three head coaches and that is tough, and I don’t want the guys that were freshmen last year to have that happen to them.”

Thomas knows that the path is tough but if the players can keep improving and buy into the program, he will be happy.

“We are trying to establish our culture and being our second year, it’s kind of for the most part our way now vs. making the transition,” he said. “That transition has happened as far as demeanor and attitude and what’s expected.”

The Dons will be led by three seniors: quarterback Colby Nielsen (820 yards and nine touchdowns last year), safety Ryder Eddy (48 tackles, one sack, one interception), and linebacker Darius Blue (63 tackles, 12 tackles for a loss, 4.5 sacks). All three have been starting for three years and Eddy was an All-Suburban League second teamer last year.

“Having a third-year starting quarterback is huge,” Thomas said. “He has a grasp of the offense and knows where everyone needs to line up.”

Cerritos opens the season at Weste on Aug. 25.

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