After The Whistle: North Caroline’s Zymear Smith
RIDGELY, Md.- Meet North Caroline’s Star Cornerback, Running Back, and Receiver Zymear Smith.
Whether it’s defending the pass and stopping other teams from scoring or making a man miss and getting points himself, he’s been making highlight plays on the field for years, grabbing the unofficial title as the most electric player from the Bayside Conference.
He’s had some crazy plays, especially just in this last year. Against Kent Island during the regular season, Smith scored all three Bulldog touchdowns in the second quarter. One of them was an 80-yard catch, another one was another 70-yard catch and the final touchdown was a pick-six.
“Every time I see green, I know it’s green. I know nobody going to catch me or nothing,” Smith says.
He says he loves making impact plays, not only on the offensive side of the ball but on the defensive side of the ball as well.
“I remember I hit two cuts, then I was gone 80 yards. And then coach, I got to pick six right after that. So that’s when coach, me and coach, we got into the little huddle. He’s like, ‘Man, we ready? Yeah, we are ready. Run this. Run this right now.’ So that’s when we ran it, and that’s when I did a little post was gone,” he says.
That was a fantastic game, but his coming out party was the season before in the playoffs at Easton in 2022.
“Five touchdowns as a sophomore in a playoff game. It doesn’t get more realer than that. But my coaching, they put their trust in me and gave me the ball when the times that when I did score. So it just felt good. But I think I can play at the next level and that’s just the goal,” he says.
He has the attention of schools on the college level.
“It’s a blessing. I just want to say that first. It’s a blessing that everything that’s going on right now, my offers, but I feel like I got one of the best teams a 17-year-old can have right now. So picking a decision, it’s not going to be easy, but you’ll know when it’s time,” he says.
He’s come a long way from his Pop Warner days were he was making plays as a kid.
“I wanted to play basketball because I live right across the street from the courts, so I always just play basketball at a time. But when I just got my first fumble recovery, I just knew football was my thing. It just felt good,” Smith says.
