Clumsy to Flawless : Newbury Park’s Smith Matures Into a Top College Prospect

Keith Smith, the record-setting quarterback from Newbury Park High, is about to end one of California’s most storied prep careers.

The senior will take his final snaps Saturday night when undefeated Newbury Park plays host to once-beaten Hawthorne in the Southern Section’s Division III championship at Moorpark College. When the game is over, Smith will finish as the state’s all-time leading passer and No. 2 in the nation.

The end is a far cry from the beginning, however, when Smith was a clumsy rookie starter his sophomore season. He was 15 when he unseated a popular senior for the job and struggled through an 0-6 start.

Smith turned the corner in a 32-14 loss to Simi Valley Royal, a team that featured quarterback Ryan Fien, who now plays for UCLA. Although the Panthers lost, Smith passed for 317 yards and two touchdowns. Newbury Park went on to win its last four games.

“That game gave me confidence,” Smith said. “I thought that was my best game of the year, and to do it against a team like that helped me believe in myself and our team.”

Two years later, the Panthers are among the area’s elite teams thanks in large part to their formerly awkward quarterback. Smith, 17, leads a team that is enjoying its finest season with a 13-0 record.

Newbury Park has outscored its opponents, 533-161. Its closest game was a 14-9 victory over Thousand Oaks, and it has scored 40 or more points nine times.

The Times’ Ventura County back of the year, Smith is a multitalented athlete who became the state’s all-time leading passer Nov. 26 with 307 yards during the Panthers’ 41-20 victory over Montebello in the quarterfinals. He ranks second all-time nationally with 9,715 yards.

He finished second in the state in passing as a junior and leads the state this season, having completed 67% of his attempts for 3,988 yards with 38 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions. Smith leads the Panthers in rushing with 615 yards--a 6.91-yard average--and 10 touchdowns.

His favorite target is Leodes Van Buren, regarded as the top receiver in the Southland. Van Buren, the state’s all-time leader in receptions and yards, has 96 catches for 1,597 yards and 10 touchdowns this year.

Smith, a pitcher, is a top college prospect in baseball as well as football and is a good student. And while his football exploits have prompted comparisons with Randall Cunningham, he might have a brighter future in baseball.

But Smith is as humble in success today as he was previously in defeat. After battling senior quarterback Zach Sutton for the starting job in 1991, Smith was not the most popular guy on the team.

“I just sat in the back (during team meetings),” he said, “and kept my mouth shut.”

He is still a quiet leader, who has won praise from every opponent he has faced this season.

Said Bell Gardens Coach Dave Newell, after watching Smith pass for 369 yards and four touchdowns in the Panthers’ 43-26 semifinal victory last week: “I’ve been coaching football for 22 years, and that kid is the best quarterback I’ve ever seen. Heck, he is the best football player I’ve ever seen.”

George Hurley, Newbury Park’s coach, is relishing his last days with his star player.

“When I’m all done with (coaching) and people ask me what I did for a living,” Hurley said, “I’ll tell them, ‘I coached Keith Smith in high school,’ and I think they’ll know what I mean.”

Smith, who said he can throw a ball 75 yards, has excellent footwork. During a workout last May in front of Division I college coaches, Smith covered 40 yards fastest among quarterbacks (4.58 seconds) and tied for 10th overall out of more than 500 participants from Southland high schools.

At 5 feet 10, 175 pounds, Smith’s size is not that of the prototype Division I quarterback. But Smith does not concern himself with things out of his control.

“I can’t tell myself, ‘Keith, grow four more inches,’ ” he said. “I can only be Keith Smith and do the things Keith Smith can do and hope that it’s good enough.”

Canyon Coach Harry Welch said size is not paramount in Smith’s case.

“He has as fine a throwing motion as any quarterback in high school, but what makes him a cut above the pack is his footwork,” he said. “He’ll play at the next level. He is the type who can eventually lead a team to a bowl win.”

For now, Smith is occupied leading the Panthers. Last season, he helped guide Newbury Park to its first outright Marmonte title since 1970.

Dozens of schools--including all those in the Pacific 10 Conference and Colorado--are pursuing him. In addition, college baseball recruiters are calling, after Smith’s strong showing at the Area Code Games, an annual showcase for the West’s top high school baseball players between their junior and senior years.

Smith is noncommittal on his college preference. About the only thing he will say is that he wants to stay relatively close to home so that his parents can avoid exorbitant air fare when they go to see him play.