Smith hammering the opposition

Archer City senior Gunner Smith broke out onto the scene in 2021, earning all-state honors after amassing 203 tackles last season. This year, the Wildcats star middle linebacker is poised for a big season under a new defensive scheme.

“Last year the game started to click for me,” Smith said. “I feel like I’ve always been pretty good at football and last year I was able to take it to another level.”

He explained that under last year’s coaching staff, his biggest responsibility was shooting gaps and finding the football. This year’s system is much more technical, allowing him to roam sideline-to-sideline and wreak havoc on opposing offenses.

“I’ve seen everything you could want to see as a coach out of Gunner,” new Archer City head coach Bradan Ritchey said. “I can’t say enough good things about the guy. His work ethic and leadership is unmatched. He leads in a different way. He doesn’t say much but he does a lot. The other kids see that and follow him because of it. You have lead by example guys and lead by words guys. He’s definitely a lead by example guy.”

For someone that let his play do the talking for him, Smith certainly made some loud statements a season ago. He averaged 18.5 tackles per game while making 24 tackles for loss. He had three games last season with at least 20 tackles, including a season-high 26 in the Wildcats’ 43-20 win over Stamford, while recording double-digit stops in every contest.

With numbers like that, the Archer City senior has eyes on playing at the next level if the opportunity arises.

“I’ve been thinking about playing at the next level if I get any offers,” Smith added. “Right now my main goal is to take it easy in high school. I really want to go to Tech and be an engineer.”

Smith has simple goals in mind for the upcoming year. After helping the Wildcats to a district championship a season ago, he hopes to accomplish the feat again in 2022.

“I want to lead my team to a district championship and help them have fun and hopefully win a lot of football games. Individually I just want to improve from last year.”

While being known for his defense, Smith is expected to be an important cog on the Wildcats’ offensive line. Last year he moved from quarterback to the offensive line out of necessity to give Archer City depth and bodies up front. He admits he’s still learning the ins and outs of the position but has picked up the new scheme well under Ritchey’s tutelage.

“The move from quarterback to center last year was completely different,” Smith said. “I had to relearn everything and even this year I’m still learning the more technical side of the offensive line. Coach Ritchey is helping me get there.”

When asked to describe his senior in one word, Ritchey didn’t hesitate.

“He’s a tremendous football player but his best attribute that not many kids have is he’s extremely selfless,” Ritchey said. “You can see that by him making the move to the o-line from quarterback last year. He wants to do whatever he can to help the team. I talk to him about how good and how valuable he is to this team. He’s always so good about what he does and I let him know we appreciate that.”

With a nose for the football and a team-first mentality, Smith is a surefire bet to be even better in his final campaign in the Black and Gold.