Ja’Quan Thomas receives Hansen Award

Running back Ja’Quan Thomas of the William Floyd Colonials was merited the most praiseworthy individual honor a football player in Suffolk County could be awarded as he received the 2025 Carl A. Hansen Award, which is dispensed annually to the best football player in Suffolk County.

In his senior year this fall, Thomas rushed for 2,082 yards on 187 carries and averaged over 11 yards per carry as the Colonials had an undefeated regular season (8-0) and finished 11-1 with a trip to the Suffolk County Championship Game. In his junior year campaign last season, he ran for 2,594 yards and notched 37 total touchdowns. The Colonial was also bestowed the honor of the 2025 Joe Cipp Award for the second straight year as the best running back in the county as he co-shared the memento with Brentwood’s Chris Peralta and last year co-shared the laurel with Sayville’s Kyle Messina. Thomas is a titan who stands at 6-1 and weighs 225 pounds and the burly halfback became the third Colonial in the history of the program to win the Hansen Award, joining Brock Jackolski, who took home the prize in 2007, and Stacey Bedell, who won the badge of honor in 2011.

There were numerous games this season that Thomas was the main asset in William Floyd’s victories. In the season opener on Sept. 12, Thomas ran the ball 25 times, accumulated 180 rushing yards, and scored three touchdowns in a 21-20 win over Sachem North. On September 20, the halfback rushed for 304 yards and found the end zone three times in a 20-0 shutout over Brentwood on homecoming. In the third game of the season in late September, Thomas tallied 128 yards on the ground registering two touchdowns, one being a 90-yard touchdown dash in a 34-0 blowout against Sachem East. On Oct. 4, in a 21-18 win in the Parkway Power Bowl against their longtime division rival Longwood, the Colonials running back carried the ball 18 times, ran for 218 yards, and darted twice into the end zone that afternoon, including a bolting 72-yard touchdown run.

In the playoffs, Thomas dominated in the first two postseason wins: two touchdowns on nine carries for 147 yards in a 34-14 Suffolk County Quarterfinals victory over Sachem East and the following week 122 yards on the ground with three touchdowns in a 41-7 Suffolk Semifinals win over Longwood. In the county championship game when William Floyd fell to Ward Melville, Thomas scored three rushing touchdowns and threw a touchdown toss for a passing touchdown to conclude his illustrious career at William Floyd in prestige fashion.