Lauren Estes-Velez

Special to the Enquirer

FALKVILLE – Leading North Alabama across the board is 1A classification Falkville High School and ranking sixth with stat percentages amongst schools like Bob Jones and Madison Academy, was Blue Devil quarterback Aaron Dove.

His updated statistic receipt after six games shows a 70 percent passing rate with his 77/110 completions, 1171 passing yards, 17 touchdowns and only one interception.

After coming off a dominating 48-28 win over 4A county rival Priceville, Dove said he is thrilled to be a part of this team that the community has rallied around.

“It feels great especially since they were a much bigger school and team- but it just goes to show that we can compete against bigger schools,” Dove said. “I feel like it’s really important to be a leader because I want to show people the right path. I’ve messed up on and off the field and I don’t want people making the same mistakes I have made. I feel like if I try to do the right thing all of the time, even when no one is watching, I can impact someone’s life for the better.”

Although Dove’s stats are more than stellar, his main focus is that the unit of Falkville wins as a team, instead of any one person receiving glory. Dove said he recently had his eyes opened to the platform that he has as quarterback and wants to use it and make the most of every opportunity.

“Last week during the third quarter of the Priceville game, I sat down beside one of our towel boys as Priceville was scoring and I asked if he was going to play football when he got in high school,” Dove said. “He told me ‘no’ and I asked him why? He said he had cerebral palsy. I asked him if he would play if he could, and he said most definitely. It then hit me that I was so blessed that I was able to play the game of football. When the offense went back on the field, I stopped playing for myself I started playing with everything I had for the people that couldn’t play the game. A few plays later I threw a touchdown pass and went back to that same boy and told him that one was for you.”

The 175-pound senior said his goal is to reach 3000 passing yards, throw for 30 touchdowns and finish 15-0 for the season.

“A big goal for us is to win state and a small goal is going 1-0 each week,” Dove said. “We focus on each practice and each game week to week.”

Dove said he looks up to Eric Thomas and Inky Johnson because to him they are two of the greatest motivational speakers in the world.

Each week he says he tries to stay in the weight room alone and stretch extra before they venture to their pregame routine to get focused and he usually has the background noise of Thunderstruck or virtually anything by AC/DC preparing for his opening drive.

“I love to have a loaded baked potato as my pre-game meal and after the game, I’m so hungry by that point, that I’ll pretty much eat anything,” Dove said.

The goals for this week for Dove include a win at home during their pink out for Breast Cancer against Coosa Christian. The game will start at 7 p.m. at Burl Vest Stadium.