IOWA PREP FOOTBALL: Smith finds football home with Lancers
ELDRIDGE — Thanaphat Chase Smith had one reason for moving to the United States.
"Sports," he said. "The decision purely was for me to come play sports."
Born in Thailand and raised on a U.S. military base in Okinawa, Japan, Smith made the move of more than 7,000 miles from the Far East to the Quad-Cities with his family almost six years ago.
It has turned out extremely well for Smith and North Scott High School.
The school's single-season leader in passing yards and passing touchdowns, Smith leads the Lancers (9-2) into their third state football semifinal appearance in five years Thursday night at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls against top-ranked North Polk (11-0).
"Chase spins it really well, probably better than anybody we've ever had," coach Kevin Tippet said of his talented senior.
That's high praise given the list of all-state quarterbacks — Kyler Gerardy, Grayson Juel, Carter Markham, Nile McLaughlin, Matt Sacia, Randy Schmidt and Louis DeFrieze — Tippet's program has produced in the past two decades.
Smith ranks first in Iowa Class 4A in completion percentage (67.5%), touchdown passes (28) and fewest interceptions (2). He is second in passing yards (2,246).
"I like having the ball in my hands every play and being able to decide how the play is going to turn out," the 5-foot-11, 190-pounder said.
Thanaphat is of Thai origin. Nearly everybody refers to him as "Chase," his middle name.
"Sometimes substitute teachers will try and say my first name," he said. "They either really start stuttering or will just say Mr. Smith. That's when I know it is my cue.
"Chase is a lot easier for people to pronounce."
Smith was introduced to American football in Okinawa.
"We did it as a source to find friends before school started," he said. "I fell in love with the game."
And then it turned into the family relocating halfway across the world.
His father, Darren, was the 1988 state long jump champion for North Scott and is in the school's athletic hall of fame. His mother, Thanom, is from Thailand, and her Thai cooking is a hit at team dinners.
Smith has two older sisters who live in the United States.
"It can't be easy when you move in at a junior-high age, but he has fit in really well with the guys," Tippet said.
His family knew the United States was the best opportunity for Smith to get exposure for college coaches.
"We're the sports capital of the world," Smith said. "Everybody here is pretty competitive, while over there a lot of it is for fun. That's important, but you don't have the people pushing you like you do here."
Smith has been a three-year starter for North Scott's soccer team. He was a member of the Lancers' sixth-place 400- and 800-meter relay teams at the state track and field meet last spring.
Football, though, is his passion and the sport he plans to pursue in college.
For the past six years, Smith has poured an enormous amount of energy and resources into football. He's gone to Jeff Trickey Quarterback Camps and kicking camps across the country along with working weekly with quarterback trainer Greg Holcomb in the Chicagoland area.
Smith, who has a 3.7 grade-point average and is comfortable speaking multiple languages, created his own website ( ) to get his name out.
"He's spent so much time on his fundamentals," Tippet said, "so he and I can work on route concepts or things we can do creatively with our offense as opposed to working footwork or hand placement because he's invested the time already to be good at that.
"With his fundamentals and a receiving group that is experienced, smart and good, it has allowed us to probably run more stuff in our pass game than we ever have before."
Patience was required.
Smith played quarterback for the freshman and sophomore teams as a ninth- and 10th-grader. He was the No. 2 signal-caller on varsity last year behind Gerardy.
Still, Smith found ways to contribute. He handled point-after and field goal tries, split time kicking off, returned kicks and spent time as a nickel back on defense to utilize his athleticism.
"He was a great teammate last year," Tippet said. "It was never about himself, all about the team. I know he wanted to play (quarterback) because he's a competitor."
Smith received multiple starts at quarterback late in the regular season after Gerardy was sidelined with an injury. That playing time, coupled with watching early in the season, was valuable in getting him prepared for this year.
"I got to really watch what a defense looks like from the sideline," Smith said. "I got to study that during practices and in games on film, so it wasn't as big of a shock to me when I started this year."
Starting with five touchdown passes and 324 total yards in the season opener against Central DeWitt, Smith has thrived this fall.
In the past three games, Tippet said Smith has made a substantial leap. Smith has completed 59 of his last 76 throws (77.6%) for nine touchdowns versus no interceptions.
"He's a perfectionist," Tippet mentioned.
During last week's 28-24 come-from-behind quarterfinal win at second-ranked Decorah, Smith threw for a career-best 345 yards and marched the Lancers 81 yards in the final three minutes.
On the game-winning touchdown, Smith lofted a 25-yard fade pass in stride to the outside shoulder of 6-foot-5 receiver Kye Smith (no relation) in the end zone.
"That's not the first time he's had to make that throw, but live and under that pressure, that's a big-time throw," Tippet said. "He sees the field really well."
Smith and Tippet meet weekly, sometimes multiple times, to dissect film.
"He's got a really good football IQ, way better than most high school quarterbacks," Tippet said. "We'll watch film and he'll be like, 'What do you think about this?' We'll go to the white board and I'm like, 'I like that.'
"The arrow screen we put in for (receiver) Cash (Bowe) last week, that was one of Chase's ideas. We've done that several times."
The individual accolades and records are gratifying, but Smith's primary objective is joining Markham as a North Scott state championship quarterback.
"When I'm out there, I play for the people beside me," he said. "You realize these are your brothers, and you don't want anything bad to happen to them. Winning with them is a lot more enjoyable than losing."
Once the season is over, Smith will focus his attention on picking a college. Charleston Southern and Marist (New York) are Division I Football Championship Subdivision programs that have made offers to him. Several NCAA Division II programs have reached out, too.
Wherever the next step of his journey leads, Smith won't be fazed by new surroundings.
"I've really got to experience what it is like living all around the world," Smith said. "It has really shaped me into the person I am today.
"It has been huge for my development."
