Tigers' Dobias picked for East-West game

RANDLEMAN - After two injury plagued seasons, Randleman High School linebacker Thomas Dobias experienced a full season on the football field. And coaches have taken notice.

Dobias was selected to participate in the East-West All Star Game, which features seniors from around the state of North Carolina in a game that will be played Dec. 17 at Jamison Stadium at Grimsley High School in Greensboro. Kickoff is at 2 p.m.

Dobias will be the only player participating from Randolph County.

“I was a little emotional,” Dobias said when he was told about the honor. “The last couple of years, I have been dealing with injuries and it was nice to be playing football full time.”

After a freshman year that was sliced to just seven games because of covid, Dobias broke his arm halfway through his sophomore season. A torn meniscus took care of most of his junior year, which makes this season so special. 

Dobias has recorded 110 tackles, an average of about 11 per game. He has four sacks and five interceptions as the Tigers finished the regular season 9-1.

“It’s a huge honor, he’s been a part of our program for so long,” RHS coach Brian Hughes said of Dobias, the son of former RHS coach Ryan Dobias. “He deserves everything he gets. He works in the weight room and he's number two in the classroom.”

Dobias was once again all over the field last Friday night, making one key stop after another in a battle the Tigers eventually lost to Eastern Randolph, 22-21. 

“His football IQ is through the roof,” Hughes said. “He and I watch film together and it’s pretty impressive to have a kid that age who knows how to watch film and pick things out.”

Growing up in a football atmosphere certainly helped.

“Ever since I was in middle school, I was brought up with the high school kids and I worked with the high school kids and grew up really fast,” Dobias said.

Dobias is the first RHS football player to be named to the East-West Game since Chase Causey and Kyle Farlow earned that honor in 2012.

 “This is just a great honor and I’m extremely blessed,” Dobias said.