Deer Park's Jasawn Thompson wins Rob Burnett Award
Jasawn Thompson of Deer Park accepts the Rob Burnett Award for most outstanding defensive player at the Suffolk All-County Gridiron Dinner at the Hyatt Hotel Dec. 1, 2014. Credit: Andrew Theodorakis
Jasawn Thompson remembered how upperclassmen on Deer Park's football team had mentored him, so he decided to take on a similar role with the junior varsity this year. If he was as good a teacher as his predecessors were, the Falcons could yield a special crop of players down the road.
"They all helped me get better," said Thompson, the recipient of Newsday's fourth annual Rob Burnett Award, presented to the best defensive player in Suffolk. "They just taught me what I needed to learn. That's why I do it with our younger players on the junior varsity. I just do it because it's natural."
That's not the only thing that comes naturally to the senior, one of the best two-way players on Long Island. As a running back, Thompson had 1,624 yards and 19 touchdowns on 172 carries. But it was his prowess on the other side of the football that earned him the prestigious Burnett Award. He was an exceptional run-stopper and had so much speed that he easily could cover running backs in space. As a middle linebacker/defensive end, he had 76 tackles, five sacks and two forced fumbles.
The other Burnett finalists were Shoreham-Wading River quarterback-defensive back Danny Hughes and Sayville running back-defensive back Matt Selts.
Thompson, a 6-2, 220-pounder, also accepted the Bob Collotta Award, presented to Suffolk's top linebacker, Monday night at the Suffolk County Football Coaches Association banquet in Hauppauge. He has accepted a scholarship to Delaware and will have an opportunity to play middle linebacker.
"The combination of his size and speed is rare around here," Deer Park coach Ron Langella said. "He's just so fast for a kid that is legitimately 220 pounds. He can run down halfbacks, he can cover players in pass coverage and he can rush the passer. He does a little bit of everything really well."
Thompson pinpointed a 32-20 win over North Babylon on Sept. 19 as his favorite moment of the season. Besides rushing for 185 yards and four touchdowns on 12 carries, he had 12 tackles, two sacks and two forced fumbles.
He credited defensive coordinator Adam Brown for his development as a middle linebacker. "He's the one that taught me it's all about angles," Thompson said. "And if you move too slow, you'll miss all the tackles."
Because of those lessons and the ones Thompson's senior mentors instilled in him years ago, Deer Park has its first Burnett Award winner. Thompson follows outstanding Burnett recipients Ron Denig of Newfield, Steven Casali of Sachem East and Jake Carlock of Babylon.
"We stress defense in our program," Langella said. "We probably play it better than we do offense because of coach Brown. I think it's an honor for the kid to win this award. And it's nice for one of our guys to garner an award that the rest of our players in our program can be proud of."
