High school football playoffs: Avon running back Quiante' Smith on a mission since returning from injury

After missing half of the regular season with an injury, Quiante' Smith is on a mission. Avon's senior running back has a simple mantra: All gas, no breaks, never stop. That was on full display in the Region 6 championship as he piled up 174 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. He enters the state semifinals with 322 yards and six touchdowns on 48 carries in three playoff games. Smith has produced twice as many touchdowns in the last three games as he did in the first five and has accounted for 60 percent of his yardage production for the entire season during that same span. The Eagles (12-1) will face Walsh Jesuit (11-1) at the University of Akron for a spot in the Division II state championship tonight at 7 o'clock. The winner will face either Big Walnut (12-1) or Cincinnati Anderson (13-0). "It's been amazing to come back and help my team out," Smith said. "It was hard being out, not being about to be out there with the guys, but being there for them every step of the way just helped keep me in the game. I'm happy to be back." Avon lost each of its top two running backs in Week 5. Smith suffered a foot sprain and bone bruise, an injury he felt would be season-ending. Cam Wendell, who comes in as the power back, suffered a cracked fibula. For the back half of the regular season, the Eagles were relying on a committee approach, hoping their top two backs would return in time for the playoffs. It helped that this year the OHSAA decided to give the top four seeds in each region a bye in shrinking the qualification field to 12 teams per region. Smith said that not only helped him and Wendell, but the entire team refocus and refresh for a deep playoff run. He added that the rehab process was time consuming, but Avon coach Mike Elder said Smith and Wendell were at practice every day, getting mental reps, encouraging their teammates and working with their doctors. "There's a mental component to that, I think they passed with flying colors," Elder said. "They never became disengaged. But then there's the physical part as well, which is doing all the exercises required of you to get back to 100 percent. Both of them worked tirelessly at that. I couldn't be prouder of those two. Their senior year didn't go the way they wanted, but now in the most important times they're available to their team and it feels great for them and us." Smith has given the Eagles' run game a significant jolt with his explosiveness. In his five regular-season games, he finished with 219 yards and three touchdowns on three carries. However, Avon's schedule was front-loaded, as the Eagles played the five teams with winning records during the first six weeks. The only team that didn't finish above .500 during that span was St. Ignatius — which is no ordinary 1-10 team, given their performance against some of the top teams in Ohio such as Mentor, St. Edward, Benedictine and an overtime playoff loss to No. 5 seeded Perrysburg. The Wildcats were the only team Smith ran against with a losing record, and that's not going to change now that the Eagles are in the state semifinals. Coincidentally, Smith's first game back came against Olmsted Falls, the same team he was injured against. He produced 47 yards on seven carries with two touchdowns in the Week 12 regional quarterfinal, while his teammate Wendell — also returning for the first time since facing the Bulldogs — added 23 yards on seven carries. "Coming back that game, me and Cam had this vengeance feeling going on," Smith said. "We both went even harder. We didn't get to finish that first game (against Olmsted Falls). We wanted that to be our game and we decided to just go crazy." Contact Chris Sweeney at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.