Thomas Blackshear had a very big smile as he stood on stage to a roar of applause from his fellow Calvary Day School students at a Monday morning assembly.
“That was pretty loud for Calvary Day School,” the senior said later. “Every day I come to school, and all the kids love me. That’s how Calvary Day is.”
He called the school “a family,” and this gathering was for a special occasion. The LB3 Foundation, a local nonprofit organization for community programming and advocacy, was honoring Blackshear as its High School Football Player of the Year, Calvary’s Mark Stroud as the Football Coach of the Year, and the Cavaliers squad as the Football Team of the Year.
PHOTO: Lawrence Bryan III, president of the LB3 Foundation, presents the Player of the Year award. - Courtesy of Calvary Day School Communications Department
Past honors have gone to Savannah High School and St. Andrew’s School boys basketball players and teams and former Benedictine multisport standout student-athlete Justin Thomas.
Lawrence Bryan III, president of the LB3 Foundation, led the ceremony and handed out the awards on Monday after his wife, District 3 Alderwoman Linda Wilder-Bryan, warmed up the crowd with some energetic calls and responses and lauded Calvary’s overall excellence.
The football program has been stellar under Stroud’s guidance for a total of 16 years (2008-15, 2017-24) until he stepped down at the end of last season’s run to the GHSA Class A-3A Private School quarterfinals.
The Cavaliers went 10-2 in 2024, raising Stroud’s overall record to 273-111 (.711) with 11 region titles (including 2024) in 33 seasons at Toombs County (1992-2007), his alma mater Swainsboro (2016) and Calvary.
“Coach (Stroud) has an amazing resume. He has the most (football) wins in Savannah history and he’s the 20th-winingest coach in Georgia’s history,” Lawrence Bryan said in reference to Georgia High School Football Historians Association records.
PHOTO: Lawrence Bryan III, president of the LB3 Foundation, presents the Coach of the Year award to Calvary Day’s Mark Stroud. - Courtesy of Calvary Day School Communications Department
Bryan said Calvary teams not only win games and produce college talent like Georgia signee Blackshear, they are active in community service and pride themselves on hard work, toughness and discipline.
“That’s what I’ve always cared about,” Stroud said after the ceremony. “The winning always just takes care of itself. You just do things correctly and try to get kids to play with great effort, try to help them be disciplined people. I think if you’re not a disciplined person, you really don’t have much of a chance in life.
“Develop great discipline. Be all-out effort,” he continued. “If you just give your best every day in whatever you do, you’ve got a chance to be successful. I think every man needs to be tough – mentally tough, emotionally tough and physically tough. If you’re not, I think you’re going to do everyone around you an injustice.”
Bryan said Stroud has done an outstanding job and his achievements cannot be overlooked. Bryan also acknowledged the timing was right for the award with Stroud announcing that last season was his last coaching football at Calvary.
Stroud remains on the faculty and said on Monday that he’s still doing “the normal stuff” leading strength and conditioning during the school day but no longer is the football coach, as former CDS offensive coordinator and veteran head coach Jason Cameron was promoted as his successor.
As for his future role(s) with the school, Stroud said, “We’re kind of still working on that. Right now, if all things go as planned, I’ll be back here doing strength and conditioning in the weight room. Hopefully, helping the program any way I can.”
Stroud said every season has been a little different, and one never knows exactly how well the team will play and how far it will get. What’s most important, he said, is building and strengthening long-lasting relationships with the coaching staff and players.
One of those players is Blackshear, a 6-foot-1, 197-pound wide receiver/defensive back/return specialist who is fast and elusive as well as physical as a ballcarrier and blocker. That latter quality, he said, goes back to his youth football days in West Savannah.
“Where it comes from is the Westside Whippers,” Blackshear said. “When I played little league with them, that’s all they taught, being physical, being aggressive with the person that’s in front of you. That’s what they taught.”
PHOTO: Lawrence Bryan III, president of the LB3 Foundation, presents the Player of the Year award to Calvary Day’s Thomas Blackshear. - Courtesy of Calvary Day School Communications Department
He learned well. Just looking at his senior season, Blackshear led the Cavaliers with 47 receptions for 1,042 yards and 17 touchdowns. He added two more TDS on the ground.
An all-state WR, Blackshear was the No. 248 player in the country, No. 31 wide receiver, and No. 36 in the state of Georgia in the 247Sports Composite Rankings for the Class of 2025.
Blackshear selected his home state, UGA Bulldogs, over a long list of offers from many of the nation’s other top programs.
“He has the kind of generational talent, if he builds on that and stays focused – that’s the main thing with these kids is staying focused – he could do some outstanding things in the SEC,” Bryan said. “I can’t wait to see him in a Georgia uniform.”
Blackshear attended Blessed Sacrament School for grades 6-8, which is where Bryan first got to see him play, as well as later as a Benedictine freshman when he also played on the basketball team.
“Thomas is an incredible athlete,” Bryan said.
Stroud, who coached Blackshear after he transferred to Calvary, said he has a high ceiling with his talent.
“He’s extremely athletic. He’s tough, physical, a great competitor,” Stroud said. “It’s really the ball’s in his court. He has the tools to be a really outstanding player as he goes forward. It’s just a matter of, like every other kid, what are you going to do with those things that you’ve been given? Hopefully, he’ll do very well. I think he will.”
Community service
Wilder-Bryan and her husband named the former LB4 & After Foundation for their son Lawrence Bryan IV, who was murdered at age 23 in an attempted armed robbery on Aug. 7, 2015.
In addition to organizing sports-related awards and events such as the youth golf clinics hosted each summer by The Savannah Golf Club, the LB3 Foundation has given children more than 2,000 new bicycles and about 70 new basketballs, by Bryan’s count.
Other community outreach programs include the annual Celebration of Life, which distributes thousands of bags of school supplies and personal-care products to those in need.
For more information, visit https://Lb3Foundation.org
PHOTOS: Calvary Day School Communications Department
Lead Photo: Calvary Day School Football team receiving the LB3 Foundation team of the year. - Courtesy of Calvary Day School Communications Department
FOLLOW the Prep Sports Report on Twitter @PrepSav and Instagram savannahsportsreport. If you have any scores, information, or story ideas to share, please email kdemasi@prepsportsreport.com.
