Smith, a 6-0, 195-pound senior halfback, passed for one touchdown and ran for another and St. Joseph's defense shut down Holy Spirit's vaunted ground game before around 3,000 spectators on the Wildcats' home field.
Junior quarterback Anthony Giagunto ran for a touchdown and a two-point conversion and picked off a pass from his safety spot as St. Joseph (3-0), the No. 2 team in The Inquirer Top 10, scored the final 34 points of the game.
Top-ranked Holy Spirit (2-2, including a forfeit loss) managed just 85 yards and three first downs in the first three quarters.
"They won every phase of the game, starting with coaching," Holy Spirit coach Chalie Roman said.
Led by ends Max Valles and Kaiwan Lewis and linebackers Corey Litton and Kevin Goldsmith, St. Joseph's defense contained Holy Spirit running backs Donta Pollock (11 carries, 34 yards) and Nigel Jones (11 carries, 30 yards) and came up with three interceptions.
"We swarmed to the football," said Lewis, who has committed to South Carolina.
Holy Spirit was hurt by penalties, especially in the first half. The Spartans were hit with seven penalties for 70 yards in the first half, including a 15-yard infraction for roughing the punter and another 15-yarder for grabbing the face mask that nullified an apparent fumble recovery.
"That's been us the first three weeks of the season," Roman said of the mistakes. "But you can't overcome those things against a team like St. Joe's."
Holy Spirit blocked a punt on the first possession of the game and drove 23 yards to take a 7-0 lead on a 17-yard pass from Tom Hehre to tight end Jeff Steeb.
"We came out on fire," Roman said.
But St. Joseph answered with a 59-yard scoring run by senior Eli Pogue. The Wildcats took an 8-7 lead when Giagunto, the holder on placekicks, raced around right end on a fake for the two-point conversion.
