Skokna and his Cardinals win national championship for second time in three years
Hinsdale's Thomas Skokna evades defenders during the Stagg Bowl Jan. 5 in Houston. North Central College captured the national championship by beating Mount Union 41-25. (photo by Steve Woltmann courtesy of North Central College)
Skokna, who racked up 94 yards receiving during the Stagg Bowl, was the top receiver for North Central College during the season with 961 yards out of the team's 3,586 total. (photo by Steve Woltmann courtesy of North Central College)
A star wide receiver for Hinsdale Central, Skokna scored three touchdowns in the first quarter of his senior year homecoming game against Downers North in 2021. Thomas is one of six Skokna boys to play football at Hinsdale Central at some point. (file photo)
North Central College was playing for a national championship Jan. 5 in Houston when quarterback Luke Lehnen threw the ball to Hinsdale's Thomas Skokna. He dropped it.
"(I) went to our quarterback on the sideline and said, 'I'm sorry,' " Skokna recalled. "He said, 'Don't worry - I'm coming back to you.' "
Skokna didn't make the same mistake twice.
"It was a big play and we got some momentum. I actually got lucky to be in that position," the junior wide receiver said. "We scored one or two plays later."
The Cardinals took the title by beating Mount Union 41-25 at Shell Energy Stadium. This was Skokna's third trip to the Stagg Bowl as a North Central Cardinal. He was a freshman in 2022 when the team won the title and a sophomore in 2023 when the team came up one point short to the SUNY Cortland Red Dragons.
"We had a little sign in our weight room in our locker room that said, '38-37.' You saw that every day coming in from workouts, coming in for practice, he said.
Trying to recapture the title was stressful, Skokna admitted. And he wasn't used to playing in stadiums that seat 20,000 fans.
"I was definitely nervous going into it," he said. "Once you get hit the first time out there, all the nerves go away and you're kind of locked into the game."
Skokna had 94 yards receiving and two kickoff returns for 66 yards in the game, adding to his already impressive stats for the season. He was the No. 1 receiver on the team with 961 yards - more than a quarter of the teams 3,586 total yards receiving - and 13 touchdowns. He also had four kickoff returns for 119 yards and one punt return for 25 yards.
Wide receiver coach Chris Allen remembers meeting Skokna for the first time last summer.
"Everybody was calling him Tommy Touchdown," he said. "It kind of gave me a little bit of an impression of what the personality of Skokes was and how he played."
Allen said Skokna likes to make explosive plays, like the one he made during the Stagg Bowl.
"Everybody thought he scored," Allen said. "Even though he's probably not the biggest guy on the field, he knows how to get open, how to use his feet really well, how to change direction really well."
Head coach Brad Spencer said having a junior lead the team in receiving is not unusual for the Cardinals.
"What was uncommon was he had virtually no experience in the previous two years outside of a back-up role," Spencer said. "But that typifies our program - kids developing into stars. I'm proud of him."
Spencer described Skokna as a tough, smart player.
"That is what we call a real football player - plays 100 percent, 100 percent of the time," he said.
And Skokna sets a great example for his teammates, Allen noted.
"When it's time to get down to business, he's locked in and he's a leader for the younger guys in the locker room as well," Allen said. "He's really a team guy. He never makes things about him. He puts his head down and works. He's a great role model for the younger guys."
Skokna said he appreciated the encouragement of other players during his first two years on the team when he spent most of his time on the bench.
"I've got a bunch of good teammates who are constantly telling me, 'You deserve to be out there - you just have to wait your turn.' There were some good athletes out there ahead of me."
The Skokna name is a familiar one to readers of The Hinsdalean's sports pages. His youngest brother, James, currently plays football for the Red Devils (Class of 2027). All seven of the Skokna boys played football for Central at some point. John, Luke and Mark went on to play football in college, with John preceding Thomas at North Central. Watching John, who's 10 years his senior, play there influenced his choice, Skokna said.
"I didn't like focus on it, but all the coaches knew me from when I was little. They still call me Tommy," he said.
Growing up with six brothers prepared him for being on the gridiron, said Skokna, who also has three sisters.
"I'm so used to getting beat up all the time and just running around, sometimes getting hit. You've always got someone to play with," he said. "I'd definitely say it prepared me for the unexpected. You've seen everything at this point."
Skokna and his teammates didn't have too much time to enjoy their victory. They headed back to the weight room on Monday.
"It's that weird feeling," he said. "You end the season on such a high note. We have to kind of forget about it and focus on next season."
Allen said Skokna will leave the program as a senior better than he found it.
"Watching him lead on and off the field has been awesome to see," he said.
