Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep senior Jake Smith made history on Tuesday.

With Cardinals quarterback Josh Rosen surprising him, the wide receiver/running back was presented the Gatorade National High School Football Player of the Year Award on Tuesday at school.

The Texas commit who will be signing his letter of intent on Dec. 19 is the first Arizona player to win the award since Gatorade began doing state and national honors in 1985. Gatorade looks at the overall athlete, valuing academic and community achievement, along with athletic performance.

Texas offensive coordinator Tim Beck, a former coach at Scottsdale Saguaro, was also present at the ceremony.

"I'm shocked," Smith told the assembled football players and coaches, who, along with his family and Rosen, surprised him in the weight room after last hour let out.

Smith was being followed by a film crew from Gatorade for two days, made to believe it was a recruiting video. He was feeling ill on Monday and even asked his dad if he could not go to school. But James Smith made his son go.

All along, his parents told him that he wouldn't win the national award, even though they were made aware that he would about two weeks ago.

"The hardest thing to do was not tell him," James Smith said.

Last week, Smith became Notre Dame's first state winner from Gatorade. During that time, it was released by Gatorade that Smith was among the three finalists for the national award.

When Rosen handed Smith a big glass trophy Tuesday, he initially thought it was for being named the Arizona Player of the Year.

"Totally surreal," Smith said. "My parents told me that I wasn't going to win. I really had no idea."

His life in football started to become surreal after his first game his junior season when the major-college coaches began to offer him. Suddenly, he became the state's hottest 2019 football recruit with offers pouring in from Alabama to Notre Dame to Texas to USC and at home, with Arizona State and Arizona.

Smith said he thought he was a long shot, at best, for national player of the year.

"It came as more of a surprise to me because I thought it would be late in December, too," he said.

Smith said that Beck told him on Sunday that he was coming out for an in-home visit. He didn't expect to see Beck as part of the presentation ceremony at the school.

"I'm sure my parents told him about it and planned this," he said.

Carrying the national award to Texas, Smith said he isn't letting that go to his head.

"Once I'm there, it doesn't matter if I'm a five-star, four-star, no-star," he said. "Nobody cares. Once I get there, my goal is to work as hard as I can and help our team win."

Smith only had two carries and six catches in Notre Dame's 60-7 5A state championship loss to Peoria Centennial.

He's already put that behind him.

"Of course I wish we could have come out and won, but Centennial's a great team and deserved it," Smith said.

Smith led the Saints to the 5A title game and 13-1 record this season as one of only two starters from the 2017 team that went 13-1 and lost to Centennial in the state final.

This year, he scored 39 touchdowns, second most in the state.

The 6-foot-1,195-pound Smith, who was chosen for the Under Armour All-American Game, caught 64 passes for 1,133 yards and 22 touchdowns and ran for 741 yards and 15 TDs this season. He also returned two kickoffs for touchdowns.

Smith had 5,446 yards and 72 touchdowns in his varsity career.

Smith edged out senior defensive back/wide receiver Derek Stingley Jr., of Baton Rouge (La.) Dunham School, who is committed to LSU, and junior quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei of Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco.

MORE:Arizona high school football player commitments 2019

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