Joliet Catholic’s Caleb Smith, who believes ‘iron sharpens irons,’ comes up with big turnovers as a sophomore

Sophomore defensive back Caleb Smith has found the transition to varsity football to be a bit smoother than he expected at Joliet Catholic.

But then again, Smith has been preparing for this for a while. It goes back to two summers ago, before he entered eighth grade, when Smith played on a team that won a United Youth Football League national championship in Plant City, Florida.

That team featured a host of kids who are now freshmen and sophomores in high school, including Armani Ford , who is starting at quarterback for Plainfield South as a sophomore and has the Cougars off to a 3-0 start.

"Going to Florida and winning that national championship was so fun," Smith said. "There are like 10 players from that team, who all go to different high schools, who are already on varsity and performing well.

"My dad always says that iron sharpens iron. When you play with guys who have a lot of skills, that definitely gets you ready."

Smith has certainly been prepared to step in as a starter this fall. He's already shown a knack for being in the right place at the right time. In a 21-14 victory over Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin in Week 2, he recovered a fumble and then came up with a late win-sealing interception.

He produced another fumble recovery along with a few big tackles Friday night as the Hilltoppers dropped a 27-0 decision to rival Providence in New Lenox.

"I expected to maybe have a tough time with it being my first year on varsity," Smith said. "Surprisingly enough, I've been holding my own pretty well. I've been opportunistic.

"It seems like it's really hard to play in front of a lot of people and be in the spotlight, but after that first snap, I was able to get in focus mode, tune out the crowd and everything and just play my game. It's not as hard as I thought it would be."

While Friday night's score looks ugly, the Celtics (3-0) scored a touchdown on the opening kickoff and another on a 96-yard interception return at the end of the first half.

Defensively, the Hilltoppers (1-2) allowed just two TDs and mostly contained a Providence offense that ran wild in the first two weeks.

"We had some mistakes that let them score on us a couple times, but I think we're holding our own," Smith said. "When we were down, we had leaders who kept us playing hard and kept our eyes focused on the goal."

Joliet Catholic coach Jake Jaworski has liked what he's seen so far from his defense. And Smith in particular.

"He is a bright spot," Jaworski said of Smith. "You talk about competing, that's a kid who comes out and competes right from the get-go. I love his attitude. I love his demeanor. I love his confidence. He's definitely a kid who's a stud."

Smith discovered his love for football as a young kid, but only after he found a dislike for some other sports.

"My dad put me in like 20 different sports to see what I'd like and what I'd be good at," Smith said. "At first, it was basketball and baseball. But I started to hate baseball because I couldn't hit the ball and I'd get mad, so then I tried football.

"He saw how good I was at that and here we are."

Here Smith is indeed, making an impact for Joliet Catholic as a sophomore. And starting to believe in his ability to compete with the older guys.

"These first few weeks, getting some turnovers and everything, it's helped my confidence go up really high, knowing that I know where to be at the right time," Smith said. "I'm getting used to varsity.

"I'm getting the feel of it to help me for junior year, senior year, possibly even college."