Omar Thornton decided to switch things up for his senior year.
Thornton transferred from nearby Western High School to American Heritage and it paid dividends as he recorded 81 tackles, including 42 solo, eight sacks, 14 tackles for loss and two interceptions, along with causing a fumble, and adding a touchdown. He led the Patriots with 7.4 tackles per game.
“I wouldn’t say it was much of an adjustment, but it was the year I wanted to have,” Thornton said. “It was the year I was always trying to have, and I just went out there and fought for it.”
Thornton, who has yet to commit, said transferring to American Heritage for his senior season was his career highlight. The Patriots finished 10-2 and fell 17-14 to the eventual Class 2M state champion Tampa Berkeley Prep in the state semifinals.
“My season highlight was beating my old team,” Thornton said. “I liked meeting new guys and going far in the playoffs.”
The 6-foot, 200-pound LB/S, said it wasn’t a challenge helping the younger players get up to speed.
“It was fun actually because they are mostly sophomores and juniors and they get to see what I do first,” he said. “Once they see me out there making a whole lot of plays, they go out and try to make more plays. It’s great!.”
Thornton, known for his hard-hitting, said he likes to go all-out on a play, especially one that elicits a crowd response.
“That’s great and why I am actually playing the game,” he said. “The fans and my mom are up there in the stands, I make hits like that so my mom can see me. I can see myself as (New York Giants safety/linebacker) Isaiah Simmons because I can do a lot of things.”
“Omar was the heart and soul of our defense this year,” said American Heritage coach Mike Smith, whose team reached the state semifinals this season. He really set the tone with just how aggressive he was and how explosive he was.
“It set the table for how our defense played all year,” Smith added. “He came over from Western and he really did an unbelievable job for us. He played a huge role. Omar is not the most vocal guy, but with the passion and intensity he played with, the guys feed off it. This year we had a young group that was just learning to play at a high level and Omar came in and a lot of guys just followed him.”
