Spanish Fort head coach Chase Smith likes everything he is seeing from senior quarterback Aaden Shamburger.
“The first thing is how much he has developed,” Smith said at last week’s Jubilee 7-on-7 competition. “He is approaching his third year as a starter at that position. He’s a great leader for us. He’s cool, calm and collected. He’s really everything you want in a quarterback. I’ve seen that elevate in all aspects over the last two seasons.”
The 6-foot-2, 170-pound Shamburger led the Toros
to the semifinals of the Jubilee tournament in Daphne
. He’ll also lead his team into the season opener Aug. 21 against Class 7A Fairhope.
A South Alabama commit, he is coming off a junior season where he led Spanish Fort to a 9-3 record and a trip to the second round of the Class 6A playoffs.
“It’s exciting,” Shamburger said. “I can’t wait for the season, but I’m also going to be sad because this is my last year of high school football, and I’ll be moving on to the big stage, going to South. I can’t wait.”
Shamburger committed to the Jaguars in June
. His other offers included Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Jackson State and Louisiana-Monroe.
“I wanted to stay close to my family,” he said. “Coach (Major) Applewhite sat me down and told me how he is going to develop me as a quarterback. They also have diehard fans over there.”
A year ago, Shamburger completed 59 percent of his passes for 853 yards and 8 touchdowns. He was intercepted 7 times. He ran for 701 yards and 6 TDs and had a pair of 100-yard rushing performances.
“I’ve been working on my passing, getting my mechanics down with coach (David) Morris down at QB Country,” he said. “He is consistently telling me things I need to do and get better at.”
Smith said Shamburger has all the intangibles to go with his talent.
“You want it all in a quarterback,” he said. “I’ve seen teams who have a quarterback with unbelievable talent, but he doesn’t have those intangibles. He doesn’t have a team behind him, doesn’t have those leadership skills. We don’t have anything left to want out of Aaden.”
Shamburger received some increased competition this summer when former Daphne QB Jaylyn “JJ” Thibodeaux transferred to Spanish Fort.
“He will be a bonafide move exemption,” Smith said. “He is battling at the quarterback position as well. He’s had a good summer so far. He has a great mindset, and we are happy to have him.”
Shamburger said the competition has been beneficial for both players.
“With JJ coming in, he has definitely pushed me and I’ve pushed him,” he said. “It’s a competition every day. If we make a bad throw, we are clowning each other about it. We are just having fun. It’s a brotherhood.”
Smith said Spanish Fort’s quarterback room has great morale and the players are holding each other accountable.
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