Therese Apel

The Clarion-Ledger

On the last Friday night of this month, Mary Kate Smith will wear a sparkling white gown on the field when she is crowned as South Jones High School's Homecoming Queen.

Then the 17-year-old senior will run to the locker room and switch it out for a football jersey, pads and helmet. Not only is Smith South Jones' Homecoming Queen, she's also the kicker for the football team.

"Originally I heard I was Homecoming Queen, and I was so excited about that. That was on a Tuesday, and the the next week I decided I was going out for football," she said.

Smith has already committed to play soccer at the University of Southern Mississippi next year, and for the last two years, people have told her she should try out for the football team, which badly needed a kicker. Finally this year, she did.

"One of our coaches is also a soccer coach, so I put him in charge of finding us a kicker," said head football coach Corey Reynolds. "He told me, 'We've got a pretty good kicker,' and when I found it was a girl, no big deal."

Smith took the field one day and kicked for Reynolds, and that's when he knew he had a starter on his hands.

"She was nailing 35-40 yard kicks, getting great height. When you hear that 'thump,' you know it's a good kick," he said. "You know the ones that can and the ones that can't, and she definitely can."

The team has accepted Smith with open arms, too. Some of them had even been recruiting her since last year. Reynolds said she fits in seamlessly with rest of the team.

"It's not like we have a girl out there. We have a football player," he said. "And we've got us a real kicker now."

Smith wears number 15, which her father wore when he was the quarterback for South Jones years ago. She said he's excited that she's following in his footsteps.

"He was so happy for me. He said, 'I'm so proud you're doing this, and remember your number one goal is to help the team.' He was really positive," Smith said.

Her mother was not as enthusiastic, but after two games, she's her daughter's biggest fan.

"She almost had a heart attack when I told her, and really worried I'd get hurt. She came to the first practice, and was like, 'Don't you think those boys are getting a little too close to you?'" Smith said. "She cleans when she's nervous, and Friday morning the house was spotless."

Smith, on the other hand, calms her nerves before the game by going to what amounts to her private locker room. There she watches something like "Remember the Titans." Sometimes, though, "it might sound funny, but sometimes I watch Disney. We don't have a lot of movies in the soccer field house," she said.

Soccer season begins about two weeks before football season ends, Smith said, but she's playing with a select soccer team now. What that means is that most days, she practices with the South Jones soccer team, with the football team, and then with her select soccer team.

"The guys are very protective anyway, they do a good job blocking for me and stuff. All the guys know that soccer is my number one thing, and they respect that. It's even more helpful when you have a whole team looking out for you," she said.

That soccer experience has helped her on the field, and her football is helping her on the soccer field, Smith said. She's also learning the game of football as she goes.

"I have a new respect for football players and what they go through. Not just working out, but mentally," she said. "It's crazy how you can be a better team but you can lose the game if you're not mentally prepared."

Meanwhile, Reynolds says he likes to rib his guys that Smith is their only Division I athlete. Seriously, he said, her performance and her demeanor clearly display that she's a competitor.

"When she went out to kick the first field goal, I stopped her and told her, 'Just relax and breathe,'" Reynolds said. "She looked at me like, 'Why are you telling me this? I know what I'm doing.' That's how competitive she is. She didn't flinch."

While it's not weird to Smith's football teammates that she's a girl, she said it can come as a surprise to the players on the opposing teams.

"A lot of times they don't know because I have on my uniform and I just have a little braid coming out the back of my helmet. They usually see me when we're shaking hands, and they'll be like, 'Oh my gosh, that's a girl,'" Smith said.

The community, like her team, has been very supportive, Smith said. Reynolds said he's gotten a lot of feedback too, and he's proud of the positive attention for his team.

"South Jones is getting mentioned, and it's something really positive for the school and for the kids. Even though it's about her, it's about our school and our kids," he said. "We have a player that is successful, and the community is really getting behind it."