The clock had struck zero, igniting a joyous victory celebration from Newbury Park High football players after winning the Southern Section Division 2 title with a 14-0 record. Going around shouting and hugging teammates was quarterback Brady Smigiel. Little did anyone know that through much of the playoffs, he was playing in severe pain from a shoulder injury.
Twice he didn’t practice the week before playoff wins over San Clemente and Yorba Linda. After the final win over Murrieta Valley, the next morning he couldn’t lift up his arm. On the Tuesday before a state playoff game, he threw up in bed.
Making no excuses and delivering whether he felt good or bad, the 6-foot-5, 210-pound junior kept finding ways to lift up his teammates. He passed for 3,591 yards and 49 touchdowns. His focus was on winning and finding ways to provide opportunities to teammates.
For a season of rising up and leading his team to an historic 14-1 record through toughness and weekly top performances, Smigiel has been selected The Times’ player of the year in high school football for 2024.
His big improvement this season was reducing interceptions from 14 in 2023 to three in 2024 and going from rushing for 52 yards in 14 games last season to 435 yards and 11 touchdowns this season.
“I didn’t have to make every single play,” he said. “I realized my job on the field was to get the ball to the athletes.”
Committed to Florida State, Smigiel has improved each of his three seasons and shown that the decision of he and his father, Joe, the head coach, to come to Newbury Park was the right one. His career totals are already astounding with one season to go, having passed for 11,222 yards and 147 touchdowns.
“This year was so special,” he said. “This is why I went to Newbury Park.”
The Panthers’ only loss came to San Diego Lincoln, 34-27, in the Division 1-AA regional. Banged up and sacked six times in the first half, Smigiel still rallied the Panthers to a 27-14 lead, passing for 211 yards and three touchdowns.
“This was a long, draining but extremely fun season,” he said.
