Smith twins bide time with Lakers
ERIE — Alex and Chris Smith truly are two of a kind.
The twins are 2013 Mars graduates and could have chosen separate paths after putting together versatile athletic careers with the Planets.
Both wound up at Mercyhurst University. Both are safeties on the football team. Both are coming off injuries and both were PSAC Scholar-Athletes last year.
And both are majoring in intelligence studies.
“They're good, hard-working kids and excellent students,” Mercyhurst coach Marty Schaetzle said. “We'll be counting on them heavily down the road. They are good football players.”
Chris Smith admitted he nearly went to Duquesne University to run track. Alex was considering a number of baseball and football options in college.
“Ultimately, we wanted to stay together if we could,” Chris said. “He's my best friend.
“And we definitely would have missed football.”
Neither has played much football for the Lakers this season. Alex was in on the tackle during the opening kickoff of Mercyhurst's season opener against Bentley.
He wound up suffering nerve damage in his neck and back area. Alex was only cleared to return to practice recently.
“It was just a weird thing,” Alex recalled. “I was making the play along the sidelines and got tangled up. I was in the mix for playing time at the time that happened. It was definitely a setback for me.”
Alex had started a game as a red-shirt freshman last season. He saw action in 10 games for the Lakers in 2014, making 15 solo tackles.
“He would have seen time in our secondary for sure, had that (injury) not happened,” Schaetzle said.Chris missed all of last season after suffering a labrum injury during camp. He has not seen any action this year.“It's a situation where we have to be patient,” Chris said. “We've been behind some top safeties here (on the depth chart) and we've picked up a lot of things.“They've been great in working with us, helping to get us ready.”Because of their injuries, the Smith twins still have three years of eligibility.“We hope to play a lot of football here,” Alex said.They played plenty at Mars.Alex was named team MVP in 2012 as a senior with the Planets. He accumulated 1,138 all-purpose yards that season along with compiling 31 solo stops and 46 tackles overall as a defensive back.While Alex was a running back for the Planets offensively, Chris was a receiver. He caught three passes that year while making 31 solo stops, 48 overall tackles and six tackles for loss defensively.Mars won the Greater Allegheny Conference that season. The Smith brothers were part of two GAC championships and 25 wins during their three years of varsity football.Alex set the Mars varsity baseball record of 22 stolen bases in the spring of 2013. Chris was one of the top 400-meter runners in Butler County at the time. He contributed to standout 1,600 and 3,200-meter relay teams for the Planets.Now they would love to line up side-by-side at safety for the Mercyhurst defense at some point. The Lakers are 4-4 overall this season, but only 1-4 in the PSAC West.“Our main goal is to contribute any way we can to a PSAC championship here,” Alex said. “You always want to be a part of winning.”
