Football | 11/16/2022 3:22:00 PM

ITTA BENA, Miss. – The Mississippi Valley State University football program has a new single-season sack king as Ronnie Thomas broke the record with a game to spare last weekend at Southern and has since been named a finalist for the C Spire Conerly Trophy by the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.
 
Thomas, a senior defensive lineman from Clinton, Mississippi, surpassed the previous mark of nine sacks set by Fred Poole in 2008 and Jerry Garner in 2019 as he currently sits on 9.5 takedowns with his eyes locked on double-digits heading into his final game as a Delta Devil on Saturday.
 
The former East Central Community College transfer ranks sixth in the FCS for sacks per game with 0.95 and ninth for tackles for loss per contest at 1.6 plus he's been selected to participate in the HBCU Legacy Bowl on February 25, 2023 in New Orleans.
 
The six-foot, 250-pounder sits 31st among all NCAA players at all levels in career sacks per game (0.74), is top-15 in the FCS for career solo tackles for loss per game (0.87) and career tackles for loss per game (1.09), ranks top-30 in the FCS for active leaders regarding career sacks (17), solo sacks (14), and assisted sacks (6), on top of a top-40 standing in both career sack yards (110) and tackle for loss yards (134).
 
Among his SWAC counterparts, Thomas leads the league with 16 TFLs, 84 tackle for loss yards and 13 solo tackles behind the line of scrimmage to go along with a team-high of three quarterback hurries and its second-most tackles (52).
 
Thomas and 19 other senior football student-athletes will be honored in a pregame ceremony on Saturday as part of Senior Day with kickoff versus Prairie View taking place at 1 p.m.
 
Follow the Mississippi Valley State football program on Twitter (@ValleyStateFB) and Instagram (@ValleyStateFB).
 
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