Holden Thomas Has the Eagles Flying High

Cool under pressure.

That would be an accurate description of Brentwood School varsity quarterback Holden Thomas.

The lifelong Palisadian may have flown under the recruiting radar before this season, but he quietly has the Eagles soaring towards a CIF Southern Section playoff berth.

Flourishing in head coach Jake Ford’s pass-friendly scheme, Thomas has thrown for 2,748 yards and 30 touchdowns with six interceptions through nine games, completing 170 of 302 passes for a QB rating of 108.0.

“It’s fun being able to throw a lot because that’s what I like to do, but it’s all within the framework of our offense,” Thomas said. “We like to run when we can to open up the passing game.”

Born and raised in the Riviera, Thomas went to pre-school at Calvary Christian before starting kindergarten a few miles down the road at Brentwood, where he stayed through eighth grade. His kid brother Brayden is now an 8th-grader at Brentwood, his oldest sister Taylor graduated from USC last May and his other sister Chandler is a junior at USC.

Although football is his game of choice now, Thomas excelled in a variety of sports growing up and has fond memories of his childhood in the Palisades.

“All of my best friends still live in the Palisades,” he said, including Riviera neighbors and Eagles wide receiver/safety Henry Segel and linebacker Will Tobey.

“We played together in middle school and I had to convince him to come back to Brentwood,” Segel said. “What makes Holden so good is that he’s really calm in the pocket. He has one of the best arms I’ve seen, he has a great mind for a quarterback and he doesn’t crack under pressure.”

Thomas also knows Palisades High All-City quarterback P.J. Hurst and All-City linebacker Alec Simpson.

“P.J. and I used to throw together on Sundays at [Venice High head coach] Angelo Gasca’s quarterback camp,” Thomas recalled. “I’m also really good friends with [Brentwood receiver] Harry Schwartz… I like throwing him the ball.”

Thomas played minor and major division basketball at the Palisades Recreation Center (twice winning the league championship with the Trojans) and played with Mike Sutton’s Certified Shooters team.

Thomas was also a perennial all-star in the Pacific Palisades Baseball Association from Pinto through Bronco and remembers playing pitcher and shortstop on Rick McGeagh’s Mustang Yankees championship team. He even traveled to Cooperstown, N.Y. for the annual Dreams Tournament.

Thomas played AYSO in Region 69 through sixth grade, making numerous all-star teams and going to Turkey tournaments on Thanksgiving weekend.

Wanting to focus on football in high school, Thomas enrolled at Oaks Christian in Westlake Village, where he was the starting quarterback on the junior varsity team as a freshman, throwing for 20 touchdowns.

As a sophomore he was the varsity backup behind three-year starter Brandon Dawkins (who is now at the University of Arizona) and he started in his junior year, tying the school single-game record for attempts (46) and breaking the record for completions (29) in a 28-21 loss to Cathedral Catholic of San Diego.

However, the Lions changed to a running-style offense, prompting Thomas, a drop-back passer, to transfer back to Brentwood.

“The atmospheres at the two schools are completely different,” said Thomas, who has a 3.9 GPA and scored 31 on the ACT. “Part of me wanted to stay [at Oaks Christian], but I just wanted to play and for me it was like coming home.”

At 6′ 5″ and 193 pounds, Thomas is tall enough to see over the line yet fast enough to tuck the ball in and run when the pocket breaks down. His greatest asset, however, is his laser accuracy, which was on full display two weeks ago when he had the Eagles smelling an upset in the first half against undefeated and highly-ranked Sierra Canyon of Chatsworth. He completed 20 of 37 passes for 255 yards and three touchdowns in three quarters.

In a 48-14 victory over Campbell Hall last Friday, he was 19-of-28 for 279 yards and four scores — the sixth time this season he has thrown four touchdowns in a game.

Thomas got a preferred walk-on offer from Michigan last week and has drawn interest from several Ivy League schools.

First things first, however. Brentwood (6-3 overall, 1-1 in the Gold Coast-Valley League) hosts Viewpoint in its regular season finale Friday afternoon in a rematch that will determine seedings for the Mid-Valley Division playoffs. The teams met Week 5 in Calabasas and Viewpoint prevailed 27-20.

“We lost to them once so we really need to win,” Thomas said.

— Steve Galluzzo