Pasco dismisses QB

By IZZY GOULD
Published October 1, 2005

DADE CITY - Tony Smith's turbulent season ended Monday after Pasco's junior quarterback was dismissed from the team for a fourth violation of school/team rules.

"Tony Smith is dismissed from the football team for administrative intervention," Pasco coach Dale Caparaso said Friday, after a 40-13 loss to Hudson dropped the Pirates to 1-5.

Caparaso would not detail Smith's infractions, other than to say administrators deemed Smith had committed too many violations to continue playing. Smith also was suspended from school.

"We knew we had gotten to the point with him it was a matter of the next time he messed up, that was it," Caparaso said. "You can only give a kid a second chance so many times. ... We told him after the last time that if he got in trouble up on campus anymore, he's done. Tony probably thought this was going to be his second 100th chance."

Smith was suspended two games and part of a third while the Pirates limped to a 1-4 start.

Smith can make amends with the team through his actions during the offseason by demonstrating a commitment to football and a refined attitude, Caparaso said.

"Once football is over, if Tony wants to do the right things in the offseason, coming to conditioning, lifting, then, yeah, (he could play his senior year)," Caparaso said.

Smith was arguably Pasco's top athlete at the season's onset. Pasco hoped to use Smith in various facets of its game plan. This season, he was a quarterback (2-of-9, 130 yards), receiver (two catches, 68 yards) kick returner (one return, 18 yards), running back (nine carries, minus-29 yards) and cornerback.

Two days before his final game against Land O'Lakes, Smith was hospitalized overnight with abdominal pain. Doctors recommended surgery, but Smith refused and returned in time to play against the Gators.

Smith's threw a 95-yard touchdown to Darrell Davis in a 22-7 loss.

One more sign of Smith's promising future was on a table in Caparaso's office - a recruiting letter from N.C. State addressed to Smith.

"It's really a sad story," Caparaso said. "He has so much talent and so much potential. He has so much college interest. ... What are you going to do? You can only hold a kid's hand so long. We love these kids, but we're football coaches here. We're around these kids three hours a day. At some point in time these kids have to want to do the right thing. If they don't, then you lose."

--Times staff writer Frank Pastor contributed to this report.

[Last modified October 1, 2005, 01:46:16]