Smith selected for All-American football

By Ernie Clark

BDN Staff

DOVER-FOXCROFT — Hunter Smith plays quarterback for the Foxcroft Academy football team.

But his future as a potential wide receiver at a major college has been gaining rapid momentum.

The 6-foot-4, 180-pound rising senior on Friday was invited to participate in the Blue-Grey North-South All-American Bowl, a high school all-star game to be played on Jan. 9, 2016, at Raymond James Stadium, home of the National Football League’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Observer file photo/Stuart Hedstrom

ONE OF THE NATION’S BEST ON THE GRIDIRON — Foxcroft Academy senior Hunter Smith has been invited to participate in the Blue-Grey North-South All-American Bowl, a high school all-star game to be played on Jan. 9, 2016, at Raymond James Stadium, home of the National Football League’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Smith was among 200 incoming seniors — many of whom already have made verbal commitments to play at major Div. I college programs — selected from a pool of 6,570 players who competed in a Blue-Grey regional or super combine earlier this year. The honorees are divided into four teams of 50 players each representing the North, South, East and West regions. Smith and his Pony teammates began the 2015 season when preseason practices started on Monday.

Smith was among 200 incoming seniors — many of whom already have made verbal commitments to play at major Division I college programs — selected from a pool of 6,570 invited players who competed in a Blue-Grey regional or super combine earlier this year.

The honorees are divided into four teams of 50 players each representing the North, South, East and West regions.

Smith will be a member of the North squad that will face off against the South beginning at 8 p.m. on Jan. 9. The East-West game will be played Dec. 20 at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys.

Both games will be telecast on Fox Sports and live-streamed on the Impact Football Network.

“It is a huge deal,” said Foxcroft football coach Danny White. “To be honest, this is like nothing we’ve ever experienced before. We’ve had kids go to all-star games, but for Hunter this is a whole other level, a national All-American high school football game.

“It’s certainly a national exposure like no other that we’ve ever experienced.”

Smith was among 50 players invited to participate earlier this year at the All-American Bowl’s Mid-Atlantic Super Combine in Richmond, Virginia.

During that event he posted the combine’s fastest time in the the shuttle run, had the third-best performance in the broad jump and ran what at the time was a personal-best time of 4.68 seconds in the 40-yard dash.

“I think I definitely held my own against everybody there,” said Smith after his return from the combine.

Smith played junior varsity quarterback and some tight end as a freshman at Foxcroft, then moved to wide receiver as a sophomore and earned all-conference honors. He was switched to quarterback three games into his junior season in order to get more touches during games. Smith rushed for 1,037 yards and 22 touchdowns in helping the Ponies finish with a 7-3 record and reach the Eastern C semifinals last fall.

The multi-sport standout, and son of Dean and Laurie Smith, also was the 2015 Big East Conference basketball player of the year and this spring was the Class C outdoor track and field state champion in both the 110 hurdles and high jump while finishing second in the long jump and third in the 300 hurdles.

“I think he’s just scratching the surface of what he’s capable of,” said White. “The fact that he just hasn’t played the position except for one season is amazing. He played wide receiver as a sophomore and three games his junior year, that’s it. There’s just so much untapped potential that already exists, and then you throw in his body type and the sky’s the limit.”

Smith is expected to be one of the most highly recruited Maine high school football players in the Class of 2016. Early Division I connections have been established with the University of Maine and Ivy League schools such as Dartmouth and Harvard.

“For Hunter to have been invited to the combine was in and of itself amazing, but then to be selected to play in this game I’m sure means a great deal to Hunter and his family but it also means a great deal to us as a coaching staff and the program that he was brought up in,” said White.

“Just the fact that he’s going to play at the next level, and we don’t know where yet, is incredible, but this is a great honor.”