New Prospects Board

[Velcro]

This New Prospects board is for all recruiting headlines, future recruiting prospect, highschool scouting and more.

Major headlines will still be in the main board, as well as in this board.

[Papa_Bull]

I'm not sure if i should post this here. So, let me know, or just move it.

Posted on Thu, Aug. 26, 2004

 

 

I M A G E S  

GRANT JEFFERIES-The Herald  

Harold Smith's speed is the talk of the county, and Palmetto plans to ride his legs as much as possible this year.

PALMETTO - Tigers will take advantage of Crazy Legs

EMERY SKOLFIELD

Herald Staff Writer

PALMETTO - Jessie Bundrage had come off the field the play before, giving him an unobstructed view from the sideline.

"The most electrifying moment of the year," recalls Bundrage, a senior on the Palmetto High football team.

It happened 11 months ago, Sept. 19, 2003, and Bundrage still struggles to make sense of what he saw.

"I don't know how he did it," says Bundrage of the night a teammate ran down the un-catchable - Terrence Jones, the All-State running back from Sarasota Booker. "It was like a flash of lightning. All of a sudden, you just saw J.R. Lightning struck, that's the only way to describe it."

Coaches around the area caught the play on videotape and quickly adjusted their game plans accordingly, accounting for No. 23.

J.R.

Harold Smith Jr.

"When people saw that, they just knew ... Harold has to be faster than any man in the county," Bundrage says.

Jones, who signed at South Florida after rushing for 2,621 yards and 37 touchdowns, was enjoying another big evening when he busted through the Tigers' defense and zipped down the sideline, racing toward the end zone and six more points.

That's about the time most defenders would slow to a jog and take a moment to appreciate the raw speed displayed by Jones, who was said to run the 40-yard dash in 4.31 seconds.

Smith, a cornerback, didn't have time for that and didn't much care about Jones' 40 time. There was a touchdown to save. And, as it turns out, a memory to make.

"He had broken out for about 50 yards, and I was just trying to chase him," says Smith, a first team All-County pick in football (defensive back) and baseball (center field) as a sophomore. "I guess I got him."

Just as Jones neared the goal line, Smith stripped the ball, which was quickly scooped up by teammate Josh Mitchell. To Jones and Booker, which won the game 35-7, Smith's remarkable play was a mere hiccup in an unbeaten trek to the Class 3A state semifinals, where they finally fell.

It made a small legend of Smith, though, and likely has something to do with the recruiting letters first-year Palmetto coach James Haynes has received from Michigan, Michigan State and South Florida.

They all want to know more about No. 23.

"He does some things you can't and don't coach," Haynes says of Smith, who has been timed at 4.4 in the 40. "He just makes moves that are 100 percent God-given talent."

With All-County running back Eddie Hills, a Bethune-Cookman College recruit, playing ahead of him, Smith made modest contributions to the Tigers' offense last season. Out of the backfield, the 5-foot-9, 165-pound Smith gained 204 yards on 31 carries; as a receiver, he had 11 catches for 203 yards.

That is sure to change this fall, when he becomes a top priority in Haynes' diverse, adapt-to-the-opponent offense.

"If we can give him some blocking, I figure we can ride his legs a long way," says Haynes, who led Class 1A Hawthorne to playoff berths in each of the past two seasons.

And ride him they will.

Smith, who has added about 20 pounds of muscle since last season, expects to play running back and receiver for the Tigers. He'll also play cornerback. And he'll return punts. Probably some kickoffs, too.

"I think I'll come off during kickoff team," Smith concedes.

Sound busy? In the spring, Smith played baseball and ran track, meaning he got to school around 7:30 a.m. each day and didn't leave campus until the end of baseball practice - around 6 p.m.

"He's the type of guy that's always gotta stay busy," says Bundrage, a quarterback/receiver/safety for the Tigers. "He doesn't like to just sit around doing nothing."

Over the summer, Smith played AAU baseball for the Tampa Hitmen, batting .430 as a leadoff hitter. In the spring, he hit .355 with 26 stolen bases, helping Palmetto to the regional playoffs.

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/sports/9516595.htm