Smith Center’s ESPN debut
Nov. 1, 2007 @ 8:55 a.m. by JoannaSmith Center made national news when it scored 72 points in the first 8.5 minutes of the first quarter on Tuesday night against Plainville — see Duane’s story here. The Redmen made ESPN’s top plays, at No. 8, with their national record-setting quarter.
It’s truly amazing what the Redmen have done this season. I know some of you think their dominance is simply because of inferior competition, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that they are obviously so talented that their backups are carrying the load.
I have no problem believing that they’ll continue to roll through the playoffs and win the 2-1A title.
November 1st, 2007 at 9:12 am
I know it probably won’t happen, but I sure would like to see someone knock off Smith Center. I would be embarrassed if I was a fan after what happened Tuesday night.
Maybe Pittsburg Colgan? They beat Girard when they were undefeated and I think top 5 in 4A.
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November 1st, 2007 at 9:14 am
Is Smith Center really that good??
Do they just play crappy teams so they win all the time or is it really all the skill of the players. I know that they wouldn’t be able to Score that much unless players were good, but i’ve never really heard the story. Im not dissing them or anything i just wanna know??
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November 1st, 2007 at 9:18 am
They have a bunch of videos on their school Web site.
The only fans who should be embarassed are those of Plainville. It’s a playoff game against a team you KNOW you cannot make a mistake against, and you turn it over six times in one quarter.
I take that back. Nobody should be “embarassed.” It was just a football game between a really good team and a mediocre one.
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November 1st, 2007 at 1:14 pm
Smith Center is a small town with about 1900 people in it. It is nice to see a public school in the 2A and 3A range win instead of a parochial school drawing from a 5A or 6A district. If they lose, I hope it is to another public school made up of good old Kansas farm boys just like them. But, I would rather see Smith Center lay it to Colgan, again.
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November 1st, 2007 at 1:23 pm
i wander wut wuld happen if smith center played a bigger school like a tournament of champions or something the best in each clas play each other. that tournament would make alot of money!
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November 1st, 2007 at 1:24 pm
good luck smith center!! take state!again
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November 1st, 2007 at 7:11 pm
Let’s see: Make it on Sportscenter and get mistaken for an 8-man football team. Couldn’t happen to a classier program!
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November 1st, 2007 at 8:56 pm
I think they meant Smith Center playing against just eight men.
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November 2nd, 2007 at 9:10 am
Many of you people from eastern Kansas don’t know the first thing about Smith Center. You’re just jealous of the success the Redmen have enjoyed through the years. If you knew Roger Barta, he would never advocate running up the score on a beaten team. If you read the ESPN.com article, or the one in the Eagle yesterday, you would realize he is not proud of the record his team set.
And for those of you wondering why Smith Center doesn’t play better teams, many of the higher classification teams won’t play the Redmen for fear of losing. And Smith Center has committments to the teams in the MCL, including two (Norton and Phillipsburg) in 3A. I would like to see Smith Center play Hays High, and I think the Redmen would win big because Hays is terrible. I would also like to see a Smith Center-Great Bend matchup–the Redmen might lose, but it would shut up the Smith Center haters who think the Redmen duck competition.
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November 2nd, 2007 at 9:34 am
But you have to remember… the final was 83-0… So in the last 3 quarters Smith Center scored 9 points… Many people think that the Smith Centers, Silver Lakes, Garden Plains, et al cannot compete with the big city schools. I think different. These are schools with strong programs year in and year out… In Silver Lake’s case, people have moved from Topeka to put their kids there for exactly that reason… they want Junior to play sports on a championship team… However it plays out… Kudos to our smaller schools that consistently take names and kick butt on the palying field.
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November 2nd, 2007 at 9:40 am
I had some friends in college from Smith Center and all of them said that there entire football team takes Steroids every year.
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November 2nd, 2007 at 9:48 am
It would be pretty sweet to see Hutch or Garden Plain go against Smith Center.
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November 2nd, 2007 at 11:16 am
David Steinle should go back to the LA He is a DORK!!!
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November 2nd, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Wallbreaker says: It would be pretty sweet to see Hutch or Garden Plain go against Smith Center.
Can’t speak for Garden Plain, but Hutch would handle Smith Center with ease.
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November 2nd, 2007 at 2:19 pm
Yeah I know hutch is going for is like 3rd or 4th state championship, so that wouldn’t suprise me. idk the way Everyone talks about SC they make it seem like they’re “unbeatable”
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November 2nd, 2007 at 3:39 pm
I heard Smith Center ran 8 different running backs, that’s what I heard, might be true might be false. To answer someone who said if they played a bigger school like 5A or 6A the answer would be 5-6A 80-0 sorry but that’s how I see it. Smith Center is good in their very weak league not their fault. Good luck in State.
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November 2nd, 2007 at 3:59 pm
I am truly tired of reading people bashing Roger Barta and our football team. Not one of you people are from around here, have no idea what our football program is about and definitely know nothing about Roger Barta. My son played for the Redmen and Roger Barta for 4 years. He grew up wanting to be a Redmen and play for Coach Barta. To this day he still has the utmost respect for him as well as his coaching staff. The reason Coach Barta has so much success is because he instills in everyone of those kids first and foremost, respect. How? Because he shows and gives everyone one of those boys respect. He makes all of them feel like they are something special. And out of respect you get motivation - those boys strive to win games not only for themselves, but for their well deserved and respected coach. Some say our players take steroids - UNTRUE!! Our kids train in the weight room all year round. You can not find a more well balanced, well mannered bunch of kids anywhere. When asked about a previous game, they don’t brag about their win or down talk the other team. They are thinking about the next game and what they have to do to get the job done. Coach Barta installs integrity, pride, leadership and respect for the game in all his players, and I for one am VERY proud to be from Smith Center and very proud of our team and the respectful way our boys and coaching staff represent our town. Congratulations Red on an extraordinary winning streak. Keep it up! You deserve the best!!!
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November 2nd, 2007 at 4:17 pm
Great team, great winning streak, but not a record.
http://ssfootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=734468
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November 2nd, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Give Smith Center all the props that team deserves but don’t start saying they could match up with the powerhouses in 6A and 5A. Good athletes can play anywhere but a larger school will have more than just a few good athletes. Coaching against a larger school with excellant athletes on both sides of the ball is tough. Mark Bliss had great success with his system at Conway Springs but the 6A level was totally different for him. Derby had good athletes but his system would not work at the 6A level. Matching a team as good as Smith Center against a 6A Hutchinson or a 5A McPherson would be crazy. Enjoy your dominance at your level and enjoy your teams success but be real about the different levels in competition. If one or two athletes make a program then Wichita East should be in the state playoffs. Derby and Southeast beat them by having more qualityathletes.
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November 3rd, 2007 at 9:50 am
Disgruntled is right on track, especially in HS football. Just because you have a dedicated team in the weightroom does not mean they use roids. Just because you live in the biggest city in the state and it can’t win a state championship because their teams lack the dedication and integrity of the smaller schools does not give you the right to start bashing the smaller schools since you no longer have a team in the post season to cheer for. And for those who think just because you are a 6A or 5A school you would dominate a smaller 11 man school, remember what the late great Bear Bryant said, “It is not the size of the dog in the fight, rather the size of the fight in the dog that matters.”
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November 4th, 2007 at 9:18 am
I’ve heard rumors about Smith Center boys using steriods and how they run the score up on the teams they play. I went to St. John yesterday to see for myself what kind of team they are. They’ve got big boys but very compariable to other teams I’ve watched — Scott City, Ulysses, Andale. One of their most impressive players is a little 135 lb. guy who is a mighty mouse on the field. The guy is everywhere. My summary is they are very well coached and pull out many different plays to keep it shaking on the field! All the negative rumors that float around are probably due to “jealousy” becauce lets face it - people don’t like you when you are good!! I have absolutely NO TIES to Smith Center and would agree that I’d pay to watch them play a bigger team — Great Bend would be a good game! (Hutch would humble them I’m sure!)
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November 5th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
Smith Center deserves all the praise and credit for their accomplishments. I haven’t seen them, but on tape they look impressive. However, insulting larger cities and schools still doesn’t make them better than they are….they would be humbled by most .500+ 5A and 6A schools. You can have all the dog fight or whatever cliches you want, but the bigger dogs would bite your a**. Good luck to the Redmen.
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November 6th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
Point seems to inscinuate Redmen fans insult larger cities about how the Redmen would play them. I, for one am getting tired of these posters who think it’s Smith Center fans discussing how we would fair against 5A and 6A schools. Sure we would get our butts handed to us by the better 5A and 6A schools……..I haven’t seen a post yet where Smith Center people have suggested otherwise. I’m sure we all have our own personal opinions but we’re not the ones on here saying we’re going to beat the 5A and 6A schools.
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November 6th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
Farm Boy-
You aren’t the same poster who used to go by the name real mccoy on another forum are you? I can tell you right here and right now that the Redmen don’t use steroids. Don’t be on here stirring an empty pot!
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November 6th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Smith Center is an incredible 2A team. I have seen the kids they have and, even as a student at one of the biggest schools in the state, find it hard to believe that they wouldn’t compete with some of the larger schools. Now Hutch may be a different story, because they’re on a level no one else in the state is.
I think the coach handled much better than he could have. They could have scored 200 that night honestly.
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