You can say this young man came out of nowhere to win this award–and it wouldn’t be a negative comment. Literally four months ago, Fivay’s Bryce Smith was in California as a part of a state championship squad for his Citrus Hill squad based out of Perris, California in the Riverside/Moreno Valley Area. Although Smith saw limited action as a sophomore, he saw action nonetheless on a team that was ladened with seniors and obvious championship-caliber talent. The young man brought himself–and his talents–in a major way at the spring event in Lakeland and we take a moment to assess his performance a little deeper as the MVP of the cornerbacks at E7TC.
WHAT WAS SAID:
“CB – Bryce Smith (Fivay) – Class of 2018
Smith is a transfer from southern California–Riverside to be exact–and was a member of a state championship squad this past season before moving East. Smith is just a sophomore currently and what some would call undersized, but he possesses good feet/hips and is very crisp technically-speaking. He’s the kind of player you literally have to tell once what you want–and he gets it the first time. “It was a great camp and it was really good experience with a ton of tough competition out there.” said Smith.”
WHAT THE ‘EYE IN THE SKY’ SAID:
The initial comment regarding ‘good feet/hands’ was backed up on film. In fact, he has “really” good feet and a “really” good hips and regardless of his small frame, that’s something that essentially can’t be taught. You either have those or you don’t. Smith also possesses a good feel for the position instinctually–which of course, can’t really be taught. You either have those instincts, or you don’t. Smith will be a really good player up in Pasco County for the next two seasons.
THE IMPACT:
Put it bluntly–the Falcons need Smith to be a championship-caliber cornerback in order to offset some of the talent that’s departed to either graduation or transfer. The Falcons were up in points scored in 2015 versus their 2014 output and scored 24 points-per-game this past season, but they gave up a boatload of points at times and finished the year giving up nearly thirty-points per. The offense has lost their captain in QB Cyler Doran–who is now at rivals Hudson, and with it–he took 2,136 yards and 22 touchdowns’ worth of production. We mention the offense, because that obviously helps to score points when your defense needs a pick-me-up.
The defense gave up a 69-point outing to Zephyrhills last season, and even in their wins–the Falcons had to win shootouts because of the defensive side of the ball. That doesn’t help when your top-three tacklers that combined for 294 tackles are gone to graduation, but the Falcons can take solace in the fact they were effective at the end finishing the season 5-5 overall and 3-1 in their last four. They only gave up an average of 12 points in their last three games that included impressive wins over Ridgewood and Land O’Lakes.