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2017 3* TE John Samuel Shenker Signs with AU (Updated)

ellitor

By ellitor
in AU Recruiting Forum

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Beaker Founding Father

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I was conversing with a retired coach this evening and he was lamenting how this generation doesn't have the work ethic and values of other generations.  Maybe the TE has different qualities like character and work ethic that makes Lindsay more comfortable.  There is something to be said for being a dream school...I bet it is something we aren't privy to.  I just want to see this Offense hang about 35-38 on someone each week.

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aufan57 Founding Father

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Nice article about Shenker

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MOULTRIE, Ga. – How about this for an unbeaten streak: When John Samuel Shenker and Jay Saunders were on the same football field together in their younger days, they never lost.

Matched together one more time for the Colquitt County High Packers in the fall of 2016, the unbeatable tandem did suffer defeat together four straight times. So what, for they and a bunch of other Packers regrouped, reeled off six wins in a row and are champions again.

Being a part of Colquitt County football and the celebration of championship victory was nothing new for Saunders, the senior quarterback who backed up Chase Parrish before getting the starting nod from coach Rush Propst as far back as Day 1 of the offseason. During that same offseason, Shenker, whose previous school, Deerfield-Windsor in Albany, came off a loss in the GISA AAA finals to Valwood, made the move to rejoin Saunders, also as a senior. What he brought to the offense at the tight end position is a little like what New England Patriots fans see day after day from their own pass catch/blocker combo, Rob Gronkowski.

 

Without near as much flash and charisma, Shenker ranked third for Colquitt County this season in receptions with 23 and yards with 393. He has one touchdown to his credit, but has also snuck into the end zone for a 2-point conversion pass. With 49 yards on three catches last Friday on Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium, Shenker helped the then No. 7-ranked Packers upend then No. 6 Lowndes High for the Region 1-7A championship 42-35.

"We worked very hard through the whole season," said Shenker, speaking Wednesday after a regular practice before the team's bye weekend. "We got down early, but we prevailed throughout the season. I thought we deserved it.

"I think it's a team effort. I thought Jay did a great job Friday. We all did well getting open and making plays."

It's more than obvious to any football fanatic that a tight end these days does more than just get into a three-point stance alongside an offensive tackle, block on the edge, and maybe slip over the middle for that possession catch to move the sticks at 1st-and-10. Shenker does that, but he also splits out wide, and he hunkers in a spot back from the line looking more like a fullback.

"It's my way of football, you know," he said. "I love my position, all my coaches, all my (teammates). It's really a great time every day I come out to practice and games.

"(Gronkowski) is the guy in the pros. He's a great guy to look at, always gets open, great blocks. Not great off the field, but he's a heck of a player on the field."

When Shenker sees Gronk produce for the Patriots and contend for Super Bowls, he knows where the fun is in football and playing tight end: catching passes, of course.

"That's where you make your money right there," said Shenker.

But also consider a scene two weeks ago when Colquitt County practiced for the 1-7A road game against Tift County. Everything was done on Propst's agenda, but first-year tight ends coach Fred Sippial had his little (in numbers, not size for sure) group stick around for drills. It wasn't about catching the football, but about hitting a pad held up by their coach.

Yes, tight ends need to block to earn even more of their keep, not to mention the admiration of the running backs and the quarterback.

"Our tight ends are on the edge, so if we don't make our blocks, the running backs don't hit the edge and make the cut they need to," said Shenker. "That's also very important as well as catching.

"You have to bring your A game every day (at Colquitt County). Everybody's out here trying to get their job. Friday nights, everybody's trying to get a scholarship.”

From 5th grade to his high school junior season, Shenker was in the football program at Deerfield-Windsor School in Albany under coach Allen Lowe.

"He's a great coach," said Shenker. "That's where I grew up. I learned football there, the base of what I know now. It all comes together in the end. Throughout my career we had a great time, made great runs (in the playoffs)."

So what was the transition going from a prominent GISA program to the Packers, sitting on top of the GHSA's largest classification not just last season, but the year before unbeaten?

 

"Faster people, that's about it," said Shenker. "Everybody still plays hard, but people here are faster and bigger. (Coach Propst) is a little more intense. Coach Lowe knows his stuff, so does coach Propst. Coach Propst just has his own way."

Shenker and Saunders were Deerfield-Windsor teammates at the middle grade level and freshmen and never lost a game, Shenker said.

"He's a heck of a quarterback," said Shenker. "Very smart. Knows his reads. Everything. He should go somewhere."

So the new tight end is making his adjustments and fitting into the Packer scheme, then that opening schedule hits. It's an 0-4 start, and it's against highly ranked clubs like Mill Creek and Roswell in 7A, Tucker in 6A and American Heritage from Florida. But Shenker is gaining new experiences playing in the Georgia Dome and nation-wide television.

"The coaches told us it would be a tough battle," he said. "They threw us in the pit. It taught us we don't play anybody better than the four teams we play early."

It got the Packers ready to beat not only another highly ranked 6A team in Valdosta but Lowndes in that title tilt. Now Shenker feels now No. 6 Colquitt County is ready to go all the way through the playoffs, which begin Nov. 11 at home.

Perhaps Shenker's punting will come into play during this postseason run. There was the famous 10-punt game at Roswell which included a 62-yarder, but he hasn't had much action on special teams since. Still, he averages 41 yards a kick, 27 in all.

And this spring look to see Shenker and Saunders again with coach Tony Kirkland and Packer baseball as they attempt to win 1-7A at Packer Park. Shenker was actually committed to sign with Auburn baseball but said he decommitted to focus on this football season. No doubt, though, somebody in one or both of these sports will get quite an addition to the 2017-18 freshman class.

http://www.moultrieobserver.com/sports/local_sports/shenker-addition-helps-colquitt-football-climb-to-region-championship/article_4b94526e-a167-11e6-b77c-2f6f0638cd69.html

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ellitor Founding Father

ellitor 33,088

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38 minutes ago, FUZZYAUFAN said:

He was once a baseball commit for Auburn, correct? If so I wonder if he will have the chance to also play baseball. 

Not playing baseball anymore. He's a football only guy now.

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