By BOB REDD bdtonline.com

HONAKER, Va. — Football has a rich history in Honaker. Heath Miller, all-pro tight end for the Pittsburgh Steelers is a 2001 graduate and the Tigers are a perennial playoff participant, having advanced last season to the second round of the Group A playoffs.

The newest chapter of the history of the school’s program is being written. The 2014 team completed the regular season 10-0 and tailback Austin Smith is helping lead the charge into the playoffs. In the season finale against Black Diamond District rival Haysi, Smith ran for 116 yards and scored a touchdown in Honaker’s 17-7 win to earn the final weekly Pocahontas Coal Association/Bluefield Daily Telegraph Player of the Week honor.

“I’d like to thank my linemen, because without them I wouldn’t be doing any of this,” Smith said. The “this” Smith refers to is his running for more than 1,500 yards this season. The senior and his teammates are hard workers determined to succeed.

“This bunch has worked hard for quite a bit, all of them,” said HHS head coach Doug Hubbard. “The first thing you’ve got to understand about Austin is he is an extremely hard worker, academically, athletically, he’s an extremely hard worker. He’s a great leader and he’s a great leader by example.

“We are a downhill run football team and he’s the ideal tailback for us because he is strong. He gives you a great effort and he’s got fairly decent speed. He’s just a guy you can count on to give you a great effort week in and week out.”

Looking back at the Haysi game, Smith talked about what it was like to have a good game against a district rival.

“It feels great when you can perform really well against a team that you know is going to be really good,” Smith said. “It’s just really a good year for all of us. We have all been working really hard and we hope we can turn it into our ultimate goal which is winning state.”

Last year Honaker had a great regular season but fell in round two of the Group 1A West playoffs. Smith surmised what happened and he and his teammates have adjusted.

“We just knew that we didn’t perform last year and that drew us this year to do a whole lot better preparing and working for it,” Smith said.

“We just have to stay focused and keep on practicing hard and playing hard and don’t have any mental mistakes, just play football like we are capable of playing.

He said the love of football in the town and the legacy of Miller, who was All-American at the University of Virginia before being drafted by the Steelers, creates a great atmosphere for the school and players.

“It’s great that people like us, from a small town, can be a big name and make a big statement especially on a stage as big as the NFL,” Smith commented.

“It’s just a really good part of this small town. People around here just love football and being a part of the team is just really something special, especially if you do well for the team. That means a lot to me, personally.”

Smith started playing football in the fifth grade and has stuck with it.

“I guess I really started playing because my dad really liked it and it kind of made me interested,” Smith commented. “The more I played the more I began to love the sport.”

Smith hopes to continue playing the sport after his days at Honaker.

“I would really like to attend college,” Smith said. “I think it would be fun to play college ball, but if not just go to college and major in engineering.”

— Contact Bob Redd at bredd@bdtonline.com, Twitter @bdtredd.