Entering the second year with Chase Smith as head coach of the Spanish Fort Toros, the Toro Way seems as strong as ever with a load of experienced returners holding roster spots.

Those returners, plus the promising newcomers, have seen the Spanish Fort mentality at work in the Toros’ postseason streak that extended to 15 seasons last year. The road to another playoff trip started unofficially last week against St. Michael and officially gets underway Thursday against Fairhope.

With Louisville commit Cole McConathy and Alabama commit Sterling Dixon teaming up in the defensive front seven, Aadan Shamburger and Drew Williamson both took reps at quarterbacks during Thursday’s jamboree with dangerous weapons on the outside the likes of Gabe Meyers and Nehemiah Hixon.

Key Storylines

-After he served on the state championship staff from 2010 as an assistant, Chase Smith helped extend Spanish Fort’s playoff streak to 15 seasons in his first as the Toro head coach.

-With dynamic weapons returning offensively and some heavy hitters coming back on defense, Spanish Fort looks to stack accomplishments on top of each other.

Top Quote from Media Day

“The expectation is to outwork, outperform, out-culture and we worry about ourselves. I talk a lot about a faceless opponent; we set our goals, but we’re focused on starting on the right foot and working on us,” head coach Chase Smith said. “I’m a big believer in taking things step by step and those small goals adding up to big goals. Our No. 1 goal is to win the state championship, that’s it. But it starts with (Day 1) Monday so we start one snap at a time, one practice at time, one possession at a time and we go from there.”