While they grew apart as the two went their separate ways with their careers, Derek Smith knew every time he’d see Jared Lorenzen at an annual golf outing or function, it was just like old times.
“It was the running joke every time we’d come back to play in golf outings, once we saw each other we’d ask each other how many people have asked about you since we last saw each other,” Smith said. “We had great memories and really enjoyed that time and just something we were able to laugh about and joke about. We’re forever linked.”
As the two are set to enter the Dawahares/KHSAA Hall of Fame together on April 30, Smith feels humbled to be going in with his former teammate from Highlands, winners of the 1998 KHSAA Class 3A football state title.
Their bond happened long before their special senior football season in 1998, one in which they scored 801 points and “didn’t even need to play the second half in over half the games,” their former coach Dale Mueller said. For those that haven’t calculated at home yet, the 801 points the 15-0nBluebirds put up was good for 53.4 points per game.
It started in grade school, when the two went at it on the basketball court. They both could play the roundball too, helping guide the Bluebirds to three straight Ninth Region titles from 1997-99. Smith was runner-up to Scott County’s Rick Jones for Mr. Basketball in 1999.
“I played for a team called Baroni CPA, Mike Baroni was the coach, just a bunch of guys we went to high school with,” Smith said. “Jared played for State Farm out in Boone County. So the saying is if you ‘can’t beat him, join him.’ We kept beating up on each other and then we combined and became one good team. We all ended up playing on the same AAU basketball team and grew up playing together. Jared then moved to Fort Thomas and went to Highlands and the rest is history.”
Lorenzen was quite nimble for a 6-foot-4, 240 pound quarterback.
“You couldn’t tag him in a phone booth,” Mueller said. “He was just so quick on his feet. Jared was that point guard you couldn’t handle and Derek just dominated. Keep in mind Derek finished runner-up in Mr. Basketball and Mr. Football that year.”
As sophomores, Lorenzen was the backup quarterback while Smith played a key role on the 1996 state championship team. Lorenzen then became the starter his junior year and it’s a game Mueller still recalls to the day that kept them from a 3-peat.
At 11-1 and in the third round of the playoffs, the Bluebirds met rival Covington Catholic.
“Real muddy game,” Mueller said, long before the Bluebirds had their turf. “Lost to poor coaching on our team.”
They’d lose 41-35 in double overtime.
After thinking all offseason about that game, it provided the motivation headed into the 1998 season.
“We were just upset all year long. We got out of bed everyday and said we got to beat them. Thought about it everyday. That year we were allowed to play spring football for the first time. The field was still in terrible shape from the muddy game the year before. We actually had to get out the drags just to smooth it out to have spring football and guys were so excited. Guys got up in the morning and said ‘beat Colonels’. We beat them in the regular season, did the same the year before and faced them in the playoffs where we lost,” Mueller said. “So right off the bat we run QB draw, Jared was the most gutsy QB draw guy, he would just wait and let all the receivers get downfield and he takes off 20 yards downfield and Jared just ran right over one of their players and I as a coach was afraid that he had seriously hurt the guy, Jared was 240, this guy was maybe 165 soaking wet. He was okay thank God. Seeing that guy try to tackle Jared, we beat them by a bunch and it showed it was men against boys.”
The Bluebirds would beat CovCath 70-26 in the regular season and 37-14 in the playoffs on their way to the Class 3A football title. Mr. Football (Lorenzen) threw for 3,392 yards and 42 touchdowns while rushing for 904 yards and 15 touchdowns in ’98. Smith was a first team all-state selection in both football and basketball that season, three times earning the distinction in basketball and twice in football.
The two were not too shabby on the baseball diamond either, but with so much going on, the two didn’t pursue the sport any further after their freshman year.
“They both just loved sports. They were just so passionate about it. If you had a ball they wanted to play it. Both were great baseball players too. I thought both of them could have played professionally,” Mueller said.
The two went on to play at the University of Kentucky together, Lorenzen still UK’s all-time passing leader with 10,354 yards. He won a Super Bowl as a member of the New York Giants in 2008. Smith was an All-SEC tight end and ended up playing one year with the Cincinnati Bengals. The two are also members of the UK Athletics Hall of Fame.
While they weren’t roommates, the two were still very close throughout their college years.
“We were never far apart. In the dorms we were two doors down and then lived in the same apartment complex. We never lived together and stayed together pretty commonly,” Smith said. “As we sort of grew up and went our own way, we didn’t see each other as much, but always had a close group of friends. We all stayed really close, all in same text chain. We still communicated, went separate ways and always still met up in golf outings.”
Smith still keeps in contact with Lorenzen’s family and plays with Jared’s dad in the Highlands golf outing every year.
With Lorenzen’s death in 2019, Smith knows the moment will be bittersweet when they both get inducted in late April. Smith plans to attend, who currently works for RDI in Blue Ash, Ohio. They were also inducted into the Highlands Hall of Fame together in 2019.
“It’s another great opportunity to think back of all the great things we accomplished and how close we were. We got inducted into the Highlands Hall of Fame together, I struggled to find the right words and keep my emotions in check during that. You think of all the accomplishments and memories that we have and then reality sets in that I’ll never see him again. I’ve thought more about Jared and I then about myself in the past week upon learning about this,” Smith said. “It’s been a few years now so it’s certainly easier, but I certainly wish we could be here together doing this.”