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The Joe Thomas Award is given annually to the state's top senior offensive lineman as part of the WSN Senior Football Awards. The award is named after former Brookfield Central and University of Wisconsin athlete Joe Thomas, who has gone on to great success in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns. After an All-American career at UW, Thomas has been selected to the NFL Pro Bowl each of his nine years in the league.
 
The pre-season watch list was trimmed down to 20 semi-finalists, and six finalists for the award have now been selected. Winners are announced the week of the state finals.

Joe Thomas Award Finalists:

Liam Fahey, Pulaski - Fahey has twice earned unanimous First Team All-Conference recognition and co-Offensive Lineman of the Year in the FRCC. He has outstanding strength, which he uses to overwhelm defenders in both one-on-one blocking as well as traps and pulls. "He plays outside tackle in an unbalanced single wing, flip-to-strength system," said head coach Jerad Marsh. "The vast majority of plays, we are running behind Liam in some fashion.  We are dependent on Liam's ability to create movement in the run game, and pass protect on an open island when throwing the ball."

Ben Hoitink, Slinger - Hoitink had a dominating junior season where he earned First Team All-Conference recognition and should follow it up with even more accolades this year. He already has the size and strength that teams look for in a linemen. Hoitink received more than a dozen Division 1 offers before committing to Penn, though preferred walk-on offers have come in from Notre Dame and Stanford.

Ben Johnson, Sun Prairie - Johnson is a dominating run blocker, especially in the frequent down blocks the Cardinals employ in their spread offense. As a pass blocker he uses his size to overwhelm opponents though does a solid job in pass set, especially against bull rushers. Johnson is a three-year starter for head coach Brian Kaminski.

Alec Mejchar, Brookfield Central - Mejchar was a First Team All-Conference pick in the tough Greater Metro Conference last year, helping the Lancers to a state runner-up finish. Still growing into his 6-6 frame, he’s very sound technically, with outstanding footwork. Mejchar holds several Division 2 offers currently.

Andrew Stone, Fond du Lac - Stone is a two-way interior standout who is the most devastating trap blocker in the state. He’s not content to just block someone when he pulls around, he looks for the de-cleater, and often delivers. Stone was a First Team All-Conference pick in the VFA-South as an offensive lineman the past two seasons, adding league Offensive Lineman of the Year recognition this year. He’s an elite track and field athlete, winning the shot put and taking second in the discus as a junior.

Logan Zschernitz, Spencer/Columbus Catholic - Zschernitz is a mauler on the interior of the Rockets’ offensive line, dominating defenders he faces in the Cloverbelt Conference. An all-league pick, he also took home Honorable Mention All-State recognition from the WFCA as a junior. He picked up a handful of D1 offers before committing to Northern Illinois.