Tuesday Morning Quarterbacking: Johnny Thomas, you are ridiculous!

All Johnathan Thomas needed Friday night at Lawrence Memorial Stadium was the voice of Jeff Joniak screaming as he broke tackles and followed blocks for a 107-yard interception return in St. John?s Prep?s 40-21 win over Central Catholic.Joniak is the voice of the Chicago Bears. And a few years back, as Chicago?s Devin Hester ran up the field for his second kick return of the game, Joniak bellowed into the microphone, “Devin Hester, you are ridiculous!”The play, which sealed The Prep?s second victory of the season, has received a lot of mileage, mainly because Bruce Lerch of the Boston Herald filmed it (and you can see it for yourself on YouTube). And it reached its zenith Monday as ESPN labeled the interception/return the top play of the weekend.Central was driving down the field for a touchdown that would have made it a one-score game … and it would have come just as St. John?s had finally put some distance between itself and the Raiders. The interception was enough. But what happened afterward was, according to coach Jim O?Leary, a happy accident.?We were yelling at him after he caught it to go down … to take a knee,” O?Leary said Monday.But the stadium, like a lot of turf fields, has lines drawn permanently to signify football, soccer and lacrosse. Thomas wasn?t sure of where he was. So he started running.Central quarterback Mike Milano, standing at the Prep 32, fired one into the end zone, and Thomas, with no one around him, caught it. In the video, you can clearly see a plethora of lines going every which way. Thomas began running.?He didn?t know where he was, because of all the lines,” O?Leary said. “I think he realized about two yards out of the end zone where he was. He couldn?t go back in, or that would have been a safety. So he kept running. Still, that shows some pretty good football presence of mind.?It was like, ?go down … take a knee … no … keep running!?”What followed was one of the most electrifying runs seen in these parts in years.?I?ve never seen anything like it,” says O?Leary.At about the two, he spun away from one tackle, cut in, cut back outside, broke another tackle, and just kept going. Around the Prep 38, he broke his third tackle.Then, aided by three crunching blocks, one each by Alex Cormier, Michael Fawehinmi and Nick Marraffa, he got so far ahead of the Central kids chasing him that he was able to slow down and almost trot into the end zone (though one wonders whether he was simply fatigued by that point).?It came at a critical point in the game for us,” O?Leary said, “because they were going in to come within a touchdown (it was 33-21 at the time).”O?Leary is no stranger to ESPN top plays.?We were involved (in one) back in 2006, against Xaverian on Thanksgiving, but that one went against us,” O?Leary said. “We weren?t as ecstatic over that.”The Prep?s homecoming game is Saturday (1:30) against a well-rested Everett team (the Crimson Tide is coming off a bye).On to other things, albeit briefly: Give Swampscott and coach Steve Dembowski some props. After two tough games, the Big Blue went into Winthrop and did something that isn?t all that easy. They won. … Lynn Tech went up to Lowell Saturday and came back with victory No. 1, thanks to Rafy Lora?s 231 yards of total offense (118 receiving, 113 rushing). … It?s fair to ask, three weeks in, whether anyone can slow down Marblehead. The Magicians have eclipsed the 40-point mark three straight weeks. Maybe Swampscott can do it Saturday (that is correct, a Swampscott-Marblehead game in September … thank you, new playoff format). … Mark Bettencourt and Peabody can be very happy with their win over Somerville Friday. Last year was just a nightmare from stem to stern, and the Tanners played a very competitive game against English in Week 2 … After two tough road venues, both of which left them spectators in civic celebrations that opened refurbished stadiums, the Classical Rams get to taste a little home cooking Friday against Salem. We