Photo by Adam Vogler
Emporia State's Xavier Smith (28) runs for extra yardage after making a first down completion during ESU's 24-13 win at Welch Stadium Saturday, Sept. 20.
ESU coach Garin Higgins joked on Thursday that Xavier Smith is so fast, “you can’t even see him right now.”
That claim wasn’t farfetched last Saturday. In the fourth quarter at Central Missouri, quarterback Sheldon Smith threw a pass that traveled 60 yards through the air. The ball appeared destined to hit the ground when at the last second, Xavier Smith zoomed into the picture and under the ball.
The pass hit Smith in stride as he outran the defense for a 67-yard touchdown.
“The kid is fast,” receivers coach Jerrod Sparling said. “He can really stretch a defense and you have to account for where he’s at because you don’t know if he’s running a reverse, you don’t know how we’re trying to get the ball to him. We’re going to put him in places where he’s most dangerous and where we think he can help us.”
The Hornets have done all that they can to get Smith the ball this season. The true freshman arrived on campus as a running back. After the first day of camp, the ESU coaches decided to move Smith to receiver. “He’s just one of those kids you want to have in your football program that didn’t blink an eye and was willing to accept that role,” Higgins said.
Higgins said he has eased Smith into the offense. Last week was his breakout game. He had 119 yards receiving on three catches, 13 rushing yards and 44 yards on two kick returns. For the season, Smith is second on the team with 17 catches for 237 yards.
“I’ve been a running back all my life so it’s been a big transition for me,” Smith said. “Knowing that it was going to get me on the field, knowing it was going to help the team out, I was willing to make that transition. It’s worked out great for me.”
Smith has once again lined up at running back occasionally the last two weeks.
“That’s what we still would like him to play,” Higgins said, “but he’s a kid who you have to figure out a way to get him the football and the best way for us to get him the ball when he got here — he really wasn’t that big but he was very fast — was to put him out there at receiver.”
Higgins has found ways to get Smith and Sean Partridge the ball other than through the air. The reverse has been one of the most successful plays for the Hornets this season with Partridge and Smith sharing the success.
In the season opener against Western State, Smith scored the first touchdown of his career on a 21-yard reverse. He also scored a 67-yard touchdown on a reverse on the first play from scrimmage against Fort Hays State, which was called back because of a hold.
“It gives the defense fits,” Partridge said. “You never know where me and him are going to line up at and you’ve got to account for us, because if you don’t we can make a play on you.”
Smith has been a natural on the reverse, but he has had to work at learning how to play receiver. He said the biggest adjustment has been learning how to run routes and the receiver blocking schemes.
Smith did not have the most reliable hands in the first few weeks of the season, but his drops have been few and far between in recent weeks.
“We’re pretty happy with the way he’s come along, and it comes more natural to him all the time and you can see that,” Sparling said. “I don’t think when he started, I’m not sure he’s a natural receiver, but I don’t worry about him now at all. He’s progressed that much.”
The ESU coaches have never questioned Smith’s speed. In high school, he was a Texas state champion in the 400-meter and 1,600-meter relays.
Higgins has recruited speed in his first two seasons at ESU and the Hornets have unquestionably gotten faster. So the question was posed to Smith, “Are you the fastest?”
“I’m a competitor,” Smith said. “If anybody tries to line up with me, I’ll try my best to beat them. Adrian Abner, he’s pretty quick. S.P. (Sean Partridge) is pretty fast. I think in the long run I think I can beat those guys.”
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