GIBSONBURG, Ohio — As we enter into week eight of the high school football season, Gibsonburg running back Connor Smith just continues to amaze.
Last year he won a state championship in wrestling, but on the football field, he’s having a dream season that is gaining national attention.
It doesn’t seem to matter how much you game plan to stop Smith, nobody has been able to do it, and he’s doing it both sides of the football.
“Some people think he’s a better linebacker than he is a running back,” said Gibsonburg head coach Joe Wyant.
That’s saying a lot. He’s the teams leading tackler on defense, but what is catching headlines is what he’s done on offense, and for good reason. These numbers are borderline outrageous.
In week four, he ran for 355 yards and six touchdowns against Tiffin Calvert. In week five, he ran for 323 yards and four touchdowns against Northwood. In week six, he ran for 305 yards and four touchdowns against Lakota, and in week seven, he ran for 340 yards and six touchdowns against Monroeville.
For some perspective, Smith is now the third leading rusher in the entire country according to MaxPreps.
"As a teammate, we love watching him run for all those yards," said teammate Martin Myerholtz. "We see him put in all the work in the offseason, so what he's doing the field is no surprise to us because he works nonstop all season."
"I don't really look at it. A lot of guys will come up to me or post about it and I'll like it," said Smith. "But they'll come up to me and I'll just be like, 'It doesn't mean much.' It's cool, but it doesn't mean much to me."
The attention doesn’t seem to be distracting him. He says winning means everything and right now the Golden Bears are 6-1.
"It's all about wanting to win," said Smith. "The numbers are great and all and I love being that guy, but at the same time, I just want to win."
"He's not a publicity guy. He's backwards and gives credit to the other guys on the team," said Wyant. "It's something getting 300 yards in the last four games though, I think for anybody at any level, at any size."
"I've really just been focusing on next week and getting better and going 1-0 each week," said Smith. "The numbers are great and all, but we're just focused on winning a league title and moving forward each week and getting better."