The 2016 Thornton Academy football team certainly had a new look entering the 2016 season. The Trojans lost six starters on offense, including All-State quarterback Austin McCrum, who went on to play D1 football for Lafayette.

Despite the major roster turnover, quarterback Michael Laverriere emerged as one of the top players in the state, and also asserted himself as one of the leaders on and off the field.

Although Laverriere is recognized as the quarterback, he also contributed on defense and special teams as well, and his ability to come up with big plays at any given moment propelled a young, growing team.

“Mike ranked right up there with some of the best players I’ve ever coached. He’s been a four-year starter for us and has played a big role in the last two years and in our state titles,” said TA head coach Kevin Kezal. “His role grew dramatically this year after we lost a very talented senior class, and we also lost some players to injury before the season started. We were certainly reliant on Michael to do a lot of things for us and he certainly came through in all three phases.”

Laverriere’s success stemmed from dedication both during the season and in the offseason, whether it be on the field or in the gym. Laverriere’s commitment to hard work was contagious in the Trojan locker room, according to Kezal.

“He’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever had — he’s totally committed to the weight room, he works hard in the offseason and everyone respected him, everyone looked up to him,” said Kezal. “As a coach, you want your best players to be your hardest workers. It makes it easy for you to coach and Michael certainly qualified. It makes it easy to coach because everyone will begin to match that energy and that level of play. He personifies that.”

Not only did Laverriere prove to be mentally tough, he also showed his physical toughness throughout the year, playing through injuries yet never missing a game.

“He also worked through a labrum tear and received a cortisone shot during the season. There were weeks where he wouldn’t even throw a single pass because his shoulder was so flared up,” said Kezal. “He was dealing with that and you would never have known when you watched him play.”

The 2017 Trojans expect to be older and more experienced at the skill positions. Although TA’s future looks bright, Kezal believes it will be hard to fill the void that Laverriere will leave behind.

“We will be more veteran at the skill positions but I don’t think we will be able to replace what Michael did for us, especially with the leadership ability,” said Kezal. “We hope that as the kids develop we will be able to replace it in different ways … we’re just going to be different next year. We relied on Michael to do everything for us this year but next year we should be more diverse.”

As much as TA will miss Laverriere’s presence on the field, it will miss his presence off the field even more.

“As good of a player as he is on the field, he’s an even better person off the field,” said Kezal.

— Associate Sports Editor Alex Sponseller can be reached at asponseller@journaltribune.