The 2016 Gateway Athletic Conference North offensive Player of the Year shredded opposing defenses while navigating a new life with Type 1 Diabetes.

Warrenton junior Brenden Smith threw for 1,026 yards, ran for 1,332 and accounted for 24 touchdowns, despite not becoming the starting quarterback until Week 3.

Smith was diagnosed in July after he lost nearly 25 pounds in a week.

“The whole summer I just felt different,” he says. “I just felt really tired after football. I usually could have worked out and then done whatever afterwards. But this summer after workouts, I couldn’t do anything.”

Warrenton Head Basketball Coach Mike Uffmann noticed a change over the summer, as well.

“I saw right away the amount of weight he lost when we came back from dead week,” Uffmann said. “We had our Little Warriors Camp shortly after, and I noticed his energy level was down more than normal.”

Smith tried everything to gain weight.

He bought supplements, drank protein and lifted more weights.

Nothing stopped the weight loss, however.

He had his blood checked in mid-July at St. Joseph’s Medical Center, and received his   diagnosis the next day.

“It was a shock,” he says. “I didn’t really know what was going on. It took me a day or two to realize what I had to deal with now.”

Smith underwent a three-day crash course at Cardinal Glennon, learning how to adapt to his new life.

While figuring out things like glucose levels and blood sugar numbers would be overwhelming for anyone at first, Smith was also days away from football season.

He sat out the first few practices while monitoring his health.

He gradually made his way onto the field, starting at safety and wide receiver before moving to quarterback.

“I think after figuring out a proper diet and getting his levels under control, he responded well to the rigors of football,” Warrenton Head Coach Steve McDowell said. “He is a good leader both on and off the field.”

Unless you saw him getting an insulin shot during a football game this fall, you probably didn’t know of Smith’s diagnosis.

He elected to keep the news quiet.

“I just think it's a bump in the road,” he says, “so I’m not letting it affect any of the goals I have.”

That doesn’t mean his transition to football was easy.

Smith needs his blood sugar numbers between 80 and 150 before practices, and close to 200 before games.

He takes glucose tablets and drinks Gatorade beforehand to help.

The late nights, however, are where the diagnosis has been a struggle.

After practices and games, Smith’s numbers can tumble, but he can’t fall asleep until they hold steady at a safe number.

“It sucks because it’s hard to get the numbers back up because they keep going down,” he says “I just have to keep eating until it goes back up.

Late-night snacks of soda and candy bars might sound for many teenagers, but Smith would prefer the sleep.

“I don’t even like soda,” he said with a laugh. “Sometimes I get tired at school in the mornings, but I can’t use that as an excuse. I just keep going.”

The initial shock has become a routine for Smith over the last four months.

He wakes up every morning and checks his numbers before checking the amount of carbohydrates in his breakfast.

The number of carbs determine how much insulin he needs.

He recently received a Dexcom glucose monitor, which is connected to his abdomen and gives him a constant read of his numbers.

“I used to have to prick myself, which got old,” he says. “But when I got the Dexcom monitor it made things a lot easier. I have an app on my  phone that tells me what my blood sugar is. It tells me when I’m going up or down or if I’m level, which helps.”

The up-to-the-minute monitoring helped during the Warrenton basketball jamboree earlier this month.

Smith’s numbers spiked from 200 to 350 during the game, but plummeted to 75 shortly after to make for a long night of monitoring.

Nights like that haven’t affected his attitude.

“Brenden is an athlete, so he looks at everything as a challenge and wants to defeat any obstacle in his way,” Uffmann said. “This is just another obstacle for him, and he doesn’t let diabetes define him.”

Smith is a starting guard on the basketball team and expects to play quarterback next fall, as well.

He wants to play receiver or safety in college, and potentially become an endocrinologist.

“I’d like to have an impact on someone whose going through the same things I am,” he says.

He is excited for the basketball season and believes the Warriors can get over the hump and win a district championship next spring.

Whatever happens in the next few months, Smith knows his diabetes diagnosis won’t affect his performances on the court.

“I had a setback, but I still accomplished the things that I wanted,” he says. “You can’t let anything stand in the way of what you love doing.”