High School Football Player Spotlight: Marana's Jeffrey Smith III excels on offense and defense

Smith is one of the top two-way players in Southern Arizona as a junior this season. 

At running back, Smith has 82 carries for 819 yards and 13 touchdowns. At linebacker, Smith has 91 tackles, five stops for loss, three sacks and three pass deflections. His 91 tackles this season rank third in the state. As a three-year varsity player, Smith has 2,579 rushing yards and 41 touchdowns on 377 carries, along with 212 tackles.

In Marana's 54-7 win over Casa Grande last week, Smith had eight rushes for 181 yards and five touchdowns, along with a season-high 14 tackles. 

After starting the season 0-2, the Tigers (4-3) have won four out of their last five games with three contests left, including their final road game of the regular season against Tucson High (5-2) on Friday at 7 p.m.

Marana has two home games against Mountain View (Oct. 23) and Casa Grande Vista Grande (Oct. 30) to close out the regular season. 

Leading up to Marana's showdown at Tucson High, Smith joined ESPN Tucson's "Spears & Ali" as the featured High School Player of the Week. Here's what Smith discussed: 

How do you reflect on your performance last week?

A: "We're a passing team, so once I got that ball, I needed to take full advantage of it. Once I got the ball the first time, I knew I was going to take it (for a touchdown). I set the tone for the game and made sure the team got rolling." 

After a rocky start, do you think the arrows are pointing up for Marana?

A: "I believe so. We came together in the beginning in the season after we weren't clicking. We're on the same page now and it's nothing but up from here." 

Considering Marana head coach Phillip Steward briefly resigned just before the season and star wide receiver Sean Roebuck missed time from a serious car crash, how was it for you and the team to experience that adversity? How did you handle that as a team?

A: "It put us through adversity. Stew always taught us to push through adversity and the likelihood of adversity coming to you every day and how you get around it. Do we let this stuff hit us and let it bring us down? ... It added fuel to us, for Sean and for Stew." 

How is Roebuck recovering?

A: "It's amazing watching how fast he's recovering. God is good. Not a lot of people would survive something like that. I'm just grateful to have him around."

Who do you look up to, whether it's a linebacker or a running back?

A: "If it was linebacker, I'd say Luke Kuechly or Ray Lewis. As a running back, I'd probably say Cam Skattebo."

How do you relate to someone like Skattebo?

A: "My aggressiveness and my willingness to extend plays."

What was life like for you growing up in Marana?

A: "I have two older brothers, and I've always looked up to them playing football. I was a little fat kid watching my brothers ball out. It motivated me to hop in with them while they're working out.

"Over time, my dad kept pushing me and pushing me. I was a big video game, but when I was about 9 or 10 years old, there was a big change and I put my nose into the ground and kept grinding." 

What are your favorite video games?

A: "'College Football' and 'Call of Duty.' Back then, I was a really big 'Fortnite' kid."

What's your favorite hobby away from football?

A: "I like to go fishing with my dad or watch movies with my mom. I'm big on family. ... I try to give my parents attention, because I don't have much longer (at the house)." 

What's the biggest fish you've caught?

A: "Honestly, I suck at fishing. I haven't caught a fish, but my dad has. It was a big ol' catfish at a golf course. We just throw these little weenies from a market and the fish love it." 

What have you done to grow as a player and how do you think that will help the team for the second half of the season?

A: "I can hit, I can take contact, but I need to keep myself healthy and keep myself ready for the next game. I don't always have to look for contact and I can extend plays. ... We're really big on executing every day. You practice like you play. Once we got that in the boys' minds, we started rolling."