2B — April 10, 2017
SportsMonday
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
A starter, a walk-on and a prayer
A
ndrew Robinson’s house
was on State Street, and
Dymonte Thomas’ was
right behind it on White Street.
So last sum-
mer, as the
two were in
Ann Arbor
preparing for
the Michigan
football sea-
son, Thomas
was always
cutting
through Rob-
inson’s yard.
Whenever Thomas went
anywhere, he walked down
Robinson’s driveway, and then,
because he’s Dymonte Thomas,
“next thing you know we’d see
him in our living room, just
saying ‘What’s up?’ and stuff,”
Robinson said.
That’s how the bond formed
between the two men who
shared almost nothing except a
yard and a football team. Their
friendship developed in the com-
ing months, after softball games
and bowling outings and Thurs-
day night Pizza House dinners
along with kicker Ryan Tice.
And then Thomas and
Robinson blinked, and it was
around 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 19,
2016, about an hour before
kickoff of Thomas’ last game
at Michigan Stadium. So as
warmups proceeded around
them, the two did what they
always do at that time on Sat-
urdays: They met in the north
end zone, took a knee, locked
arms and prayed.
***
College football gets
stressful, Robinson notes.
So it’s good for him to have
a “jokester” on the team like
Thomas, who could walk into
the locker room, crack a joke
and lighten spirits.
“He is the way I am,” Thom-
as said. “I don’t know, it was
just one of those friendships
that you have where you just
automatically connect really
well.”
That’s how the friendship
developed between the two,
by playful ribbing. Robinson’s
younger brother would come
visit, and Thomas would say to
him, “Oh, the better Robinson’s
here. When are you going to
come here and take your broth-
er’s spot?” Thomas would drop
an interception, and Robinson
would tease, “That’s what you
get for not having hands.”
Their football careers have
almost nothing in common.
When they prayed together
last year, Thomas was a senior
starting safety, Robinson a
redshirt sophomore backup
long snapper. Thomas could be
an NFL Draft pick later this
month; Robinson will never
have that opportunity.
Thomas was a four-star
recruit in 2013, the No. 71
recruit in the nation and the
No. 9 safety according to
247sports.com. He chose Mich-
igan over Ohio State and Notre
Dame. Robinson had to send
out his game film in order to
receive a visit from Michigan.
He picked the Wolverines over
Ohio and Grand Valley State.
But the two shared some
connections — family was
important to both, as was
religion. Thomas used to pray
before games with reserve
cornerback Terry Richardson,
who played at Michigan from
2012 to 2015. After Richard-
son graduated and transferred
to Marshall, Robinson asked
Thomas before last season’s
opener against Hawaii if he
could pray with him during
warmups.
The free moment always
came after Thomas finished
stretching with the return
men, and Robinson finished
practicing with the kickers.
Thomas would flag Robinson
down — “I wouldn’t pray with-
out Andrew,” he said — and the
two found a brief moment of
peace before the chaos started.
Thomas typically led. He
fought nagging injuries, so he’d
pray for health. He’d pray for
Robinson to perform his job
if called upon. He’d pray for
either to be able to bounce back
if Thomas dropped an inter-
ception or Robinson botched
a snap.
After the prayer, Robinson
would give Thomas a pep talk.
The message, in Thomas’ mem-
ory: Show why you’re one of
the best safeties around. Domi-
nate the day. Know that God’s
got your back, and he’s going to
protect you.
After they finished, they
stood up and hugged in a long
embrace, and then they resumed
their football duties. They did
not skip a prayer last season.
***
Once last season, Robinson’s
mother told him she saw a fan
tearing up in the front row
watching the weekly prayer.
The Wolverines pray as a team
before every game, but Thomas
and Robinson also enjoyed the
chance to make their ritual
public.
“I look back at life and real-
ize how blessed I am,” Thomas
said. “I think it’s the right
thing to do to give God credit,
not only in silence but in front
of people as well.”
Thomas graduated in
December and is spending his
final months in Ann Arbor
training and preparing for
the NFL. His Michigan career
finished strong, yet as he looks
back, the prayer meant most to
him in the toughest times. His
first season, he played defense
in just three games and fin-
ished with seven tackles. He
had to soak up the playbook
and adjust to his college stud-
ies.
“When you go through
(adversity) and some things
that just don’t go your way, I
won’t necessarily say you get
away from God, but you kind
of focus on trying to get better
at whatever you’re struggling
at,” Thomas said. “…At first,
it was just hard, and I felt like
God was leaving me, but then
Andrew helped me realize that
I can get through anything
with God, and God’s never
going to let me walk down a
path by myself. He will always
be there for me.”
As for Robinson, football
returns to Michigan Stadium
on Saturday for the annual
Spring Game, and Thomas
won’t be there waiting in the
end zone.
Robinson has thought about
what will happen then and
thinks for now that he will
pray by himself, until he and
someone else find the same
connection. When they do,
watch for them. They’ll be in
the same end zone, under the
same goalposts, arm in arm,
around noon.
Lourim can be reached
at jlourim@umich.edu and
on Twitter @jakelourim.
JAKE LOURIM, DAILY SPORTS WRITER/Daily
Andrew Robinson and Dymonte Thomas knelt together in the endzone and united in prayer before the Orange Bowl, as they did before every game last season.
SPORTSMONDAY COLUMN
JAKE
LOURIM
Michigan surrenders early lead to Blue Jays
For
three
minutes
on
Saturday in Baltimore, the
Michigan
women’s
lacrosse
team was sitting pretty.
Senior
midfielder
Kim
Coughlan put the Wolverines
(1-3 Big Ten, 5-10 overall) on the
board two
minutes
into
the
contest.
Thirty seconds later, senior
attackman
Jess
Angerman
found the back of the net, and
Michigan held a 2-0 lead over
Johns Hopkins.
But the shutout held for just
30 more seconds, before Blue
Jay attackman CeCe Finney
gave her team its first goal of
the game. One minute later,
Finney scored again, and after
that the Wolverines’ Potemkin
lead collapsed into a 15-8 loss.
Three minutes after Finney’s
second goal, midfielder Nicole
DeMase gave Johns Hopkins
(1-3, 9-4) the lead for good. The
Blue Jays flew away with the rest
of the half, as they scored five
more goals — eight unanswered
in total — to
take an 8-2 lead
with 10 minutes
remaining
in
the period.
Following
Johns Hopkins’
eighth
goal,
Michigan
coach Jennifer
Ulehla
decided to pull
sophomore
starting goalie
Mira
Shane
in
favor
of
redshirt freshman Alli Kothari.
Kothari
proved
valuable
for the remainder of the first
period, saving two shots and
allowing no goals. Her saves
started
to
build
up
some
momentum for the Wolverines,
and with just 23 seconds
remaining
in
the
period,
freshman midfielder Chandler
Kirby scored the team’s first
goal in over 27 minutes – a
much needed boost going into
the locker room.
Just
38
seconds
into
the second half,
Coughlan found
the back of the
net for the second
time. A mere 13
seconds
after
that,
freshman
midfielder Molly
Garrett put the
ball past Blue Jay
goalie
Caroline
Federico,
and
suddenly
the
Wolverines found new life.
Johns Hopkins expanded the
lead back to four just before the
28-minute mark — capping off
a barrage of three goals in two
minutes to begin the period —
and that difference held steady
for eight more minutes.
The Michigan resurgence
was still not over, though, as
freshman attacker Lilly Grass
and redshirt junior attacker
Bianca Brueckner both found
the back of the net to narrow
the
Wolverines’
deficit
to
just two – the team’s smallest
margin since the 20:13 mark of
the first period.
But
the
resurgence
disappeared as quickly as the
mirage it appeared to be. The
Blue Jays outscored Michigan
6-1 in the closing half of the
second period to secure a 15-8
lead and win their first Big Ten
game of the season.
For
the
Wolverines,
the
loss marks the third straight
in as many Big Ten matches
since they won their opening
conference game against Ohio
State.
Michigan
will
have
two more chances to earn
wins against Big Ten teams at
home and improve its standing
before the Big Ten Tournament
in College Park.
MAX KUANG/Daily
Redshirt freshman goalie Alli Kothari replaced Mira Shane in net Saturday, allowing just seven goals in just over 40 minutes against the Blue Jays.
MATTHEW KENNEDY
Daily Sports Writer
MICHIGAN
J. HOPKINS
8
15
But the
resurgence
disappeared
as quickly as
the mirage it
appeared to be.
“There were a couple of
opportunities that we had
that maybe we missed,”
Rennard said. “But I think
we did a really good job
on offense, defense and
pitching to settle things
down.”
Despite the loss, the
bullpen proved to be a
bright spot. In six and
two-thirds
innings
of
relief, the bullpen allowed
only one run and struck
out
seven.
Rennard
highlighted the bullpen’s
strong
effort,
coming
in for Hendrickson and
allowing only one run in
3.2 innings.
“(My mindset) was just
to throw up zeroes, and
keep the team in it by
doing the best job I could
and swing the momentum
back
in
our
favor,”
Rennard said.
In
order
to
ensure
that Sunday’s game is an
anomaly, Michigan must
be ready to play from the
start.
“We all (need to) lock
it in from pitch one,”
Rennard
said.
“You’re
supposed
to
be,
and
sometimes
it
doesn’t
happen. So from pitch one
having that mentality of
being aggressive and not
feel out the first inning.”
BASEBALL
From Page 1B
SOFTBALL
From Page 1B
During the second game, Falk
blasted a three-run bomb, seizing
the lead that Ohio State previously
held. Blanco was a presence at the
plate as well, adding four RBI in the
game, including a three-run double
that cushioned Michigan’s victory
in the sixth inning.
Sophomore second baseman
Faith Canfield posted a career-high
four hits in the second game, going
7-for-10 on the day.
Canfield’s elite performance in
the doubleheader is consistent with
her recent achievement at the plate.
She now bats .373 on the season
— the third-best average for the
Wolverines.
“I’ve just kind of been getting
comfortable,” Canfield said. “And I
just go up (to the plate) to attack, see
ball hit ball, just keeping it simple.”
Betsa had yet another impressive
showing as well, fanning 21
Buckeyes over 10 total innings
pitched on the day. The ace tossed
a complete-game win in the first
slate and relieved Blanco for the last
three innings of the second. She was
untouchable in relief, allowing zero
hits and collecting nine strikeouts.
Moving forward, Michigan is
looking to have a lot more days like
Saturday.
“My goal is for us to just keep
getting better,” Hutchins said.
“We’ve gotten a lot better in the
last month and two months, but
I thought we took a step back
(Sunday). We can’t ever think that
were done getting better.”
Congratulations to the 2017
Michigan Daily Sports March
Madness Bracket Champion:
Rebecca Lerner
She edits our content for one
semester and thinks she can start
showing us up.