New and improved Tomasin leads Newman

His numbers were relatively modest, if you can call 134 yards rushing modest. It wasn't a glitzy 200-yard game or the headline-grabbing gotta-read 300 yarder. But to see Steven Tomasin run, modesty doesn't describe his style, his will and, most importantly, his impact on Cardinal Newman's football team. He is as close to be the American Express card for Newman football, they should never leave for a game without him.

"I'm bigger, faster, stronger than I was last year," said Tomasin after Newman beat Concord, 35-6 Friday night to open the season. "I'm just so much more experienced than I was last year. Last year at this time I would be confused at times. Now I see so many things more clearly."

And it's the next sentence that shows exactly why Tomasin has indeed raised his game to the elite level, the kind of level that puts him on a podium, maybe alone.

"The game has slowed down for me," said the senior.

There you have it, the one thing all football players at all levels want, search for and many times find it to elude them. The game slows down. For Tomasin, that's being patient going into a hole, waiting longer for his blocking. That's making adjustments literally on the run, when the game really makes sense.

"I just see everything better," Tomasin said.

Friday Tomasin saw the end zone four times, on two 22-yarders, an eight-yarder and one punch-out from the two. It took just 17 carries to get those 134 yards and the four touchdowns. Throw in a 70-yard pass reception and that's 204 yards of offense. While quarterback Matt Sullivan was scuffling in the first half, to find his rhythm in his first start, Tomasin running the ball was Paul Cronin's default play-call.

"We weren't playing very smart," Tomasin said.

A team's first game rarely looks like a team's last game. Football is like cooking barbeque. It takes time. It's not a rush job. And Sullivan's second half passing had the crispness the first half lacked. Yes, there were first-game penalties and a quarterback seeking to find his rhythm and the Newman defense itself experiencing a running back as good as it may ever face this season, Concord's Olito Thompson, who ran 22 times for 192 yards. Thompson, small but dogged, and relentlessly fast, will be an up-front example for the Newman coaching staff to give to its players. Guys like Thompson make it easy for defensive coaches to preach team pursuit.

Guys like Tomasin, however, make it difficult for defensive coaches because team pursuit is not the easy, quick answer. He is a piston with the football, the tenacity made all the more obvious because he knows a defense is targeting him AND he knows teams target Newman because, well, that's what people do around here in Sonoma County. It's like a hobby people have in the Empire. When in doubt chirp on Newman.

"We (Newman players) always feel the pressure," Tomasin said, "because we know so many eyes are on Newman."

The eyes will again be on Cardinal Newman, the defending Division 3 NCS champs. The off-season hum had Newman as being the best team in the area. Of course, that's just off-season hum. Hum doesn't win football games. Hum just gets tongues to wagging and, in all fairness, Newman's 35-6 stomping of Concord will elevate the hum. The Minutemen are well-coached, defending D2 champs themselves, and while the Cardinals may not have been artistically perfect Friday night, 35-6 took the worry out of playing a first game.

First games are grab-bags for everyone, on either side. You never know what you are going to get. Never know the surprises. Never anticipate the disappointments. Never feel settled. Always nervous. Except for the guy who carries the ball for Cardinal Newman. Steve Tomasin didn't play like this was his first game of the season. Rather the way he played on the first Friday night in September was a game that would work well on the last Friday night in November. Which of course was what this was all about.

"Yes, the NCS (title)," Tomasin said. "About 14 games left for that. Our ultimate goal."

The first step was Friday night. It wasn't a small one, Steven Tomasin saw to that.

For more North Bay sports go to Bob Padecky's blog at padecky.blogs.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Columnist at 521-5223 or bob.padecky@pressdemocrat.com.