COVINGTON, Ga. — Colby Shivers’ nomination as the Chick-Fil-A Covington football Player of the Week may have seemed like an inevitable occurrence, given the way the junior tight end has been playing lately. 

In each game this season, Eastside quarterback Noah Cook has found Shivers for a big play in the passing game, or at least looked his way. 

That connection resulted in career highs for Shivers against North Clayton as he turned in 108-yard receiving performance on four catches with a pair of touchdown receptions in the eighth-ranked Eagles’ 37-0 win. 

Shivers is averaging over 35 yards per catch for the season, and if you ask him, he’ll tell you he has his long-standing relationship with Cook to thank for the uptick in his production. 

“Me and Noah just have that chemistry,” Shivers said. “We’re always talking on the sidelines about what we can do better.” 

Shivers has been knowing Cook, also a junior, for as long as he can remember. They’re also teammates on the Eagles’ baseball team as well. 

“I’ve known Noah my whole life,” Shivers said. “We’ve been playing baseball and everything together, really since we were little. we’ve literally grown up together.” 

Which means Shivers, in addition to tracking his own progress and improvement, has a special interest in watching Cook’s maturation and development as well. 

“Man, he’s gotten way better since last year,” Shivers said. “The way he’s taking control of the offense. His mechanics are getting better, his precision as a passer, just everything has gotten better.” 

Beyond the joy he gets playing with one of his closest friends, Shivers said his highlight for the season so far was scoring his first touchdown in his career. 

“It was against Walnut Grove,” he said. “It was just a scrimmage, but it still felt amazing.” 

He’s now got three scoring grabs on the season. But the 6-foot-1, 210-pound receiver and tight end understands that catching passes isn’t what it’s all about for his position. 

“I want to continue improving as a blocker, because if wide receivers and tight ends don’t block on the outside, nothing’s gonna happen,” he said. “No big plays or anything, so that’s the first thing you’ve got to do. Blocking’s probably the hardest, but you’ve gotta do it to help your running backs get those holes that make a big play.” 

As he’s gotten better of it, and when he sees the fruits of it, Shivers says it makes him want to do more to become a better blocker. But he said he also makes it a point to work regularly with his trainer to work on his speed and agility. 

He says the challenging aspect of the work doesn’t always feel like work because of how much he loves the game — perhaps even more than baseball. 

“Football’s just a fun game,” he said. “I just like to play it. I have the same love for baseball, but football, there’s just something about it. When you’re on the field, you’re getting hit. It’s physical every play. Baseball isn’t as hard sometimes, because you’re not beating your body up as much in baseball. I think I like football because it’s just more of a challenge.”