The storybook season for Deshawn Smith is bittersweet. Deshawn Smith, Nature Coast 2016 RB is the latest Dairy Farmer Mr. Football for the state of Florida. This award is given to the state’s top high school player for the current football season. Smith had previously won the award for class 5A which qualified him for the overall award.
As he racked up individual accolades through out the season, the season did come to an end by the hands of Clay high school in the third round of the playoffs. Smith says he is appreciative and honored to win the award. Yet it comes with a cost “Bittersweet! It feels pretty good winning it. Shows pretty much hard works pays off. Wouldn’t have made it this far without God. So I give all the glory to God.”
Smith smoked the competition carry the ball 241 times for 3715 yards. That happened to be tops in the nation. He averaged 15.4 yards per carry and 285.8 yards a contest. In addition to the yards he gained, he posted 60 rushing TDs and 67 total TDs on the season. The 60 rushing TDs broke the state record previously held by Derrick Henry the 2015 Heisman Trophy winner.
Smith joins an elite group of previous area winners of the award: 1997 Zain Gilmore | Robinson | Missouri; 2006 Robert Marve | Plant | Miami (FL); 2010 Quentin Williams | Jefferson | Bethune Cookman.