Football

Smith does it all for Scarlet Dragons

Coach Lewis leads Heights to title

Central senior Hunter Smith capped off a tremendous return from a football injury that led to him missing most of his junior year in basketball and baseball by being selected as the Altoona Mirror High School Football Player of the Year.

Cambria Heights coach Jarrod Lewis experienced his own struggle a year ago as the Highlanders were ousted from the postseason by rival Northern Cambria, which went on to make school history and win its first District 6 title.

This season, despite losing several key senior stars at Cambria Heights and having a small incoming senior class, Lewis guided the Highlanders past some early season losses and helped them avenge losses to the Colts and Purchase Line in the playoffs en route to Heights' own first District 6 Class 1A title this year. As a result, area coaches and media voted Lewis as the Altoona Mirror Coach of the Year.

"Coach of the Year feels like a team award, because your team has to do well," Lewis said. "It's something I share with my staff. I think the world of my staff, and a lot of these guys have been with me through all 13 years. It is exciting when you look at when we first took over the program to where we are now."

Smith also led Central to a District 6 championship in 3A, his fourth in a row playing for the Scarlet Dragons.

"It fell a lot to the seniors coming up including me and a couple other key guys to take that role and follow in the footsteps of the seniors last year," Smith said. "We kept the same mentality and said we were going for four-peat for districts. A bunch of people stepped up this year that helped us tremendously."

Smith had solid offensive numbers as a running back with 1,122 yards on 207 carries and 24 touchdowns, and he caught 24 passes for 219 yards and two more scores. But he stood out when it came to his versatility.

Defensively, Smith had 110 tackles, including an incredible 30.5 for loss and 5.5 sacks from his linebacker position. He also had two interceptions, recovered two fumbles and forced another.

He also served as the team's placekicker and made 50 extra points and his only field goal attempt of the year, a kick that beat Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic in overtime. As a punter, he averaged a respectable 36.3 yards per kick on the rare occasions Central needed to give up the ball. Smith also accounted for 215 points while the second-highest point total in the Mirror's coverage area by one player was 134 points.

"He was without a doubt our most valuable player," Central coach Dave Baker said. "He was a punter, kicker, extremely good linebacker, good running back and everything at a very high level. That takes the place of having four or five other good players. It just makes your team so much better. Plus, he had a lot of leadership ability and a high football IQ. He was the thing that made our team go."

Central won another district title despite losing Jeff Hoenstine, who was last year's Mirror Player of the Year and shared the 2021 honor with teammate Parker Gregg.

"It feels great following those two," Smith said. "They are pretty good athletes and pretty good football players right now. Hopefully, (Central) has a couple more coming in the next few years."

In addition to his stats on the field, Smith took more of a leadership role.

"He knew the defense and knew what to tell the other players when they needed help," Baker said. "He became the main runner on the team, and we tried to throw passes to him coming out of the backfield. He understood the game and understood his role and that he needed to step up and make plays when they needed to be made."

Smith edged out several other deserving candidates including Altoona running back Bron Mosley, who led the area in rushing with 1,409 yards and 21 touchdowns while playing against top-level competition. Smith's teammate Jack Dunn had 59 catches for 1,059 yards and 14 touchdowns to lead the area in receiving, and Eli Muthler threw for 2,815 yards and 32 touchdown passes for the Scarlet Dragons.

For Lewis, Cambria Heights' run to a District 6 crown was highly celebrated partly because of how unexpected it was after the Highlanders fell short as a high seed a year ago and lost in the first round as the top seed in Class 2A in 2021.

"If you had to ask me between last year and this year which team I thought would go further, it would have probably been last year," Lewis said. "Just because of the amount of seniors we had last year. We had really good players, but I think the one thing that this year's team had that was really special was just how unselfish they were. So many players stepped up, and we had different guys be the primary ball carrier every week or get the most tackles on defense."

Lewis finished 10 votes ahead of Baker, last year's winner. Baker was one vote ahead of Northern Bedford's Garry Black, who led the Black Panthers to the District 5 Class 1A title and a competitive game against eventual PIAA champion Steelton-Highspire, and Penn Cambria's Nick Felus was one vote behind Black after the Panthers nearly knocked off Central in the District 6 Class 3A final.

"Amongst my peers, there are some fantastic coaches in this area," Lewis said. "To even be mentioned among them is an honor. To get even one Coach of the Year vote is certainly an honor, and it's humbling when it comes from your coaching peers that understand what you go through on a season-to-season basis, I think that makes it extra special."

Coach voting

NAME VOTES

Jarrod Lewis, C. Heights 36

Dave Baker, Central 26

Garry Black, N. Bedford 25

Nick Felus, Penn Cambria 24

Homer DeLattre, Hollidaysburg 4

Bill Musser, Juniata Valley 3

Vince Nedimyer, Altoona 2