Over the years, it has not been uncommon for the Abilene High defensive staff to turn undersized players with big hearts and high motors into outstanding linebackers or safeties.

Few players in AHS history have fit that profile better than senior outside linebacker Trae Shaw.

Standing just 5-foot-8 and weighing in at 165 pounds, Shaw isn’t your prototypical linebacker by any stretch of the imagination. But he fits the overachieving Eagle prototype to a T, and coach Mike Fullen, who was a longtime defensive coordinator before taking over the program in 2019, has no problem whatsoever working with players like that.