Raymius Smith needs 13 yards to go over the 4000 yard mark
BRYSON CITY – For Ray Smith it has never been about individual accomplishments, it is about winning. A fact his career record at Swain clearly shows. After two years the Maroon Devils have been 23-3 with Smith under center, and have a SMC Championship and State Runner-up trophies to show for it. Tomorrow Smith and the Devils go for another SMC title as they face off with rival Murphy.
Regardless of wheither or not Smith wants to admit it, he is closing in on another career milestone. Heading into tomorrow’s game Smith is 13 yards shy of 4000 passing yards at Swain. To put that into perspective, only one Maroon Devil has gone past 4000 passing yards. You guessed it, Heath Shuler. Shuler finished his illustrious career at Swain with 7045 passing yards. Now Smith sits 13 yards away from passing another threshold that only one other has done at Swain.
To draw the comparison a bit further Shuler finished his career with an unheard of 3 SMC titles and 3 State Championships to go along with his crazy individual numbers. Honestly using Shuler as a mearsuing stick for other Swain quarterbacks is a bit unfair. But Smith, well let’s be totally fair, is still an unfinished work. With that being said his numbers and accomplishments are beginning to stack up favorably to Shuler.
Going into this weeks game Smith is 219 of 366 for 3987 yards and 56 touchdowns. If you include his numbers from his one year at Cherokee he is 307 of 526 for 5513 yards and 72 touchdowns. Definitly on par with Shuler’s 389 of 695 for 7045 yards and 73 touchdowns.
Smith has a conference title and a State Championship appearance on his resume, and still has a chance for both of those again this season.
All of this makes for interesting conversation, but one thing is for sure, you better enjoy watching Smith play because obviously players like him do not come along everyday. Here’s hoping that we get 6 more weeks to watch, it seems appropriate that he would play his final high school game in a state championship game. After watching his state championship record setting performance from last season it would be fun to see him on the big stage again.
Smith’s 13 yards will get lost in the other major story lines surrounding tomorrow’s big showdown. Most likely it will become an afterthought, something that suits Smith just fine.