Talkin’ football
- Updated: August 1, 2024
With an up-and-coming quarterback in Amberson and an intriguing weapon in Newton, long-time Wellborn coach ready to show the adaptability of his offense.
Editor’s note: High school football practice starts this week, and East Alabama Sports Today editor Joe Medley has begun his annual round of preseason visits to football-playing schools in Calhoun County. Check out East Alabama Sports Today’s Facebook page for live interviews each weekday leading up to season openers. Columns and key facts will also appear at EASportsToday.com and related social-media platforms
WELLBORN — Jeff Smith has thoughts about Wellborn’s reputation for wing-T offense.
“A lot of times, we get labeled as, we’re just a wing-T team, but we’re not,” the 16th-year Panthers head coach said. “We never have been.
‘The thing that we’ve done with our offense over the years that I’m very proud of, and it’s why I’ve stuck with it all of these years, is it’s multiple enough that we can adapt to our players.”
The Panthers enter 2024 with a new quarterback, sophomore Aziah Amberson. He can throw.
They also have 6-foot-4 running back/receiver/safety Jaxon Newton, who got attention including an offer from Cincinnati over the summer.
Consider that running back C.J Hubbard graduated, and running back Jabari Williams, the 2023 Class 1A-3A All-Calhoun County player of the year, transferred to Anniston.
It appears that Smith is ready to show the adaptability of his offense.
“The way our players are, and the scheme, and everything, we’re able to do some different things with them than we did last year,” Smith said.
Smith’s offenses have always run through the quarterback, and Amberson, the son of former Piedmont quarterback Justin Amberson, brings an intriguing skill set.
“He’s got a good, strong arm,” Smith said. “He can throw a football.
“Not only does he have a strong arm and can throw it hard, he also has touch with it. He’s not going to be 5 feet from somebody and throw a bullet and have it bounce off of them. He’s going to get the ball to people.”
Amberson can also run the and has qualities coaches like … mainly that he can take hard coaching.
He’ll have to grow and learn like any sophomore, but he;ll get that chance.
As for the intriguing Newton, one might take a look at him and wonder where he’s been. There’s a story behind that.
Newton played in seventh and eighth grades, but a four-wheeler accident kept him out of action in 2022. Smith called the accident “substantial.”
“He hurt his shoulder and cut the tips of his fingers off of one hand,” Smith said. ‘Man, he had a time with it.”
Newton started as a sophomore and. Like most sophomores, especially those who didn’t play as freshmen, he went through a learning curve.
“He’s gotten better and better,” Smith said. “I’m really proud of him, not so much of his football ability, but I know his story and what he had to go through to get back, and I admire that.”
Panther facts
Things to know about Wellborn football heading into the 2024 season:
—Jeff Smith enters his 28th season as a head coach with a 177-120 record. He’s 101-65 entering his 16th season at Wellborn.
—The Panthers went 7-4 in 2023, losing in the first round of the playoffs to Flomation. Wellborn finished first in Class 3A, Region 4.
—Key graduation losses from 2023 include eight 1A-3A All-Calhoun County players: OL Will Phillips, DL JaySialas Montgomery, LB Brennan Talley, RB C.J. Hubbard, OL Kenny Truss. DL Andrew Salter, DL Trey Downs and QB/DB Noah Screws. RB Jabari Williams, the 1A-3A county player of the year, transferred to Anniston.
—Returning All-County picks: senior LB Raymond Williams, senior WB/DB Kyle Wright, senior TE/DL/LS Ethan Carroll, senior OL Dozer Hayes, senior LB Larry Armond, sophomore WR/DB Jaxon Newton and junior DB Caleb McCurry.
–Players to watch: New sophomore quarterback Aziah Amberson, and the 6-4 Newton, a three-star prospect with an offer from Cincinnati, makes for an intriguing pass target.
—The first year of a realignment cycle has Wellborn back in the north, in 3A, Region 6. The Panthers’ nine-team region includes Glencoe, J.B. Pennington, Locust Fork, Ohatchee, Piedmont, Weaver and Westbrook Christian.
—Joe Medley
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