Westover’s Trent Thompson wins Bobby Dodd award

ALBANY — With his senior year coming to a close, Westover High School’s Trent Thompson still managed to win one more award. He was honored Monday afternoon with the Bobby Dodd High School Lineman Award.

The Touchdown Club of Atlanta, the second oldest touchdown club in the nation, has been giving out the award since 1987. Players such as Peyton Manning, Aaron Murray, Eric Berry are among the recipients and Thompson was able to join that list.

The Westover program has grown since head coach Octavia Jones took over as the program had just four winning seasons in 40 years. Since then, the wins have piled up, a region title was won and playoffs have become a regular expectation.

With Thompson leading the way as the most decorated athlete to come out of the program in the last few years, the Patriots have seen several other players commit to college programs. Westover principal William Chunn said that’s one of the program’s accomplishments he’s most proud of.

“I feel great as an administrator because we tell them all the time here at Westover we’re 100 percent all about the academic focus,” he said. “In order for them to receive a football scholarship, they first have to be academically eligible. If these students are eligible, they’re given the opportunity to further their education as a student athlete. The student comes first.”

For Thompson, who has a slew of awards to chose from, including Composite Player of the Year, he said this one has a special place in his heart.

“It means more because on the defensive side of the ball, we get respect for making plays, but an individual award for defensive player of the year, the Bobby Dodd award is great honor,” he said.

He added that the success he’s had during his tenure at Westover will hopefully help him as he makes the jump to the University of Georgia and helps his team in the competitive Southeastern Conference.

“I’m just going to go into college with momentum,” he said. “It’s the icing on the cake for my high school career, and when I get to college, game’s going to be different, faster, so I gotta get better every day.”

He said his work as a player is far from over, but he hopes what he has accomplished thus far will have the next class of Patriots achieving their dreams.

“I hope the team coming in for Westover looks at this and learns that if you put in the hard work in the weight room and also listen to your coaches, and do your work in school, you can go to the big college you want to go to,” he said.