The scenes keep shifting.
The Bronchos can look up, and find themselves down 10, tired, breathing heavy, late in the night in Lubbock, driving with less than three minutes to play.
Or they can look around and see Ratliff Stadium — with the cheerleaders stomping their feet, the band trumpeting through brass, as Odessa High closes in on the jubilation of victory.
Or, they can turn their head to watch a last-chance effort fall short of the goal post — to see a game slip away.
It’s been a roller-coaster start to the season for Odessa High (2-1), yet through all the sights and sounds, from the daylit pregame jitters to dim, deadlocked battles in the trenches, from the thrill of victory to the agony of defeat, there’s been at least one constant for the Bronchos.
He wears No. 4.
Cool. Calm. Collected.
Through the highs and lows of Odessa High’s first three games this season, junior quarterback Trey Smith has been a steady force, and a big part of what’s guided the Bronchos to a winning start to the year.
Smith has thrown for 442 yards and seven touchdowns on 30-of-44 passing this season, rushing for 122 more yards and another score, all while pacing a consistent Odessa High offense that has yet to turn the ball over in three games.
Just as important as his steady play has been Smith’s cool demeanor through games — which the Bronchos say has helped carry the team through three close contests.
“I’m trying to do a good job of that,” Smith said after a practice this week, his voice as calm as ever as he fiddled with the quarterback’s towel at his waist as the sun set on Coleman Field.
He’s the same on that practice field as he is on game days. A bit quiet and easy-going, Smith never seems too angry or too disappointed; too pompous or too jittery; too high or too low.
“That’s who he is,” Odessa High head coach Danny Servance said. “That’s who he is, whether he’s in the hallways, or whether he’s in the weight room, or whether he’s on the football field — that’s just Trey. That’s his personality.
“That’s who he is.”
And on the field this season, that level personality has helped guide the Bronchos through shaky situations.
In the final minutes of Odessa High’s season opener at Lubbock Monterey, with the Bronchos trailing by 10 points, Smith didn’t panic, and helped guide Odessa High to a seven-play touchdown drive at cut the deficit to three points and allowed Odessa High to pull off a dramatic win in the late stages.
A week later, as Odessa High led Amarillo High by a touchdown in the last four minutes, Smith engineered a clock-killing drive, with a 19-yard run during that series, as well as the game-clinching fourth-down conversion run that allowed the Bronchos to kneel out the clock.
Last Friday against Lubbock Coronado, Smith helped keep Odessa High steady in a tight one-point game — and since then, he’s helped keep his teammates focused after the gut-wrenching loss.
Whether his team’s winning or losing, whether the Bronchos have just won or just lost, or whether it’s in big moments or in polishing off the little things, Smith stays the same.
“That’s his personality,” Odessa High offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Dean Garza said. “He’s pretty quiet and easy-going. The more you get to know him, the more he comes out of his shell. That’s him.”
This year, those traits have helped the Bronchos on the field.
“He’s making plays. He’s toting the ball, he’s throwing the ball, he’s doing well. He’s producing —but the key is to be steady; no peaks and valleys,” Garza said.
Of all his on-field accomplishment this season, the biggest might be that, with Smith taking almost every snap from center, the Bronchos offense still has yet to throw an interception or fumble the ball away. Odessa High’s only two turnovers so far this season came by way of muffed punts on special teams.
That’s new. Last season, on their way to a winless record, the Bronchos gave up 23 turnovers. Smith threw six of Odessa High’s 13 interceptions while splitting snaps at quarterback.
Since then, Smith said he made a conscious effort to make a change.
“I was part of the problem last year,” Smith admits. “We got down, and I went down too. I didn’t ever try to fight back. This year I definitely tried to change it. Last year, I had never really been used to losing, and last year, it was a wake-up call for me, that things are different now — like, it’s a new game.
“So, this year, I put in the work through the summer, came back, and I knew what I had to do to get better.”
His teammates have seen that effort — and his growth as a leader between his sophomore and junior seasons.
“We all worked hard over the summer, especially him,” Bronchos right tackle Luis Nunez said. “He’s a great leader. He made everybody work harder. I know I got better because of him. He was very vocal to everybody.
“He’s never mad. He stays calm,” Nunez added. “Even if it’s a mistake, he’s going to stay calm the next play.”
Nunez and left tackle Caedon Murry said Smith’s steady leadership has been key for the Odessa High offense this year.
“Trey is the type of guy that, he doesn’t care if we’re losing, and he doesn’t care if we’re winning,” Murry said. “He still has a dog mentality, that we’re going to run the score up on them, or if we’re losing, we’re going to score on them and get the points back.
“There’s never a time where I see him all sad, looking down — none of that. He’s the one who lifts the O-linemen up.”
Smith said that being more comfortable in his second season has helped his play on the field, as has the fact that he’s less afraid to make a mistake, more sure now that the team’s trust is behind him.
In that comfort, his personality has made its way onto the field — cool, calm and collected.
“He’s a level-headed kid,” Servance said. “He doesn’t get aroused very easily. He’s just steady. That’s what you want — a guy who, the environment, or whatever the conditions are in the ball game, doesn’t affect him.
“He’s just going to be the same, no matter what.”
Now, in good times and bad, Smith is working to continue to be that steady force.
“Our first game, that was the biggest thing: We can’t let our heads get down,” Smith said of that season-opening win over Lubbock Monterey. Odessa High trailed 24-7 early in the fourth quarter in that one before steadily climbing its way back to a win. “Even if we get down or something bad happens, we can’t let it get us down. We’ve got to keep going through everything.
“Our first game proved that. If we stay up, and we keep going through anything, it’ll work out for us in the end most times.”
With Smith finding his footing at quarterback for the Bronchos, Odessa High might just see things work out its way a few more times this season.
“He’s putting the whole picture together,” Garza said. “It’s obvious. His performance has shown that. He’s done well.
“It’s steady.”
