Aaden Shamburger fired a 14-yard scoring pass to Nemo Hixon with 1:27 left to play to lift visiting Spanish Fort to an 8-3 upset over No. 8-ranked Theodore in a Class 6A, Region 1 defensive dogfight at C.A. Douglas Field on Friday night.

“We knew coming in here it would be a 12-round boxing match,” Spanish Fort coach Chase Smith said. “Our boys found a way to pull through, and I am just proud of them for getting this win. It ain’t easy, but they found a way to get it done.”

The Toros improved to 3-2 overall, 3-1 in region play and will travel to 7A Daphne next Friday, while the Bobcats (3-2, 3-1) will host to 7A Opelika.

“We thought it would be a four-quarter game between two pretty good teams and they made one more play than we did,” Theodore coach Steve Mask said. “You hold them to 8 (points), you ought to win, but we didn’t. It hurts to lose a game like this, but we are going to find out what kind of character that we’ve got.”

At halftime of the contest, the field house was named in honor of former Bobcat coach Joe Downey.

Spanish Fort picked up 319 total yards but converted only 2-of-13 first downs on the night, while Theodore was limited to 135 total yards and converted only 2-of-12 third downs, with an average of 9.8 yards to go and only twice needing less than 7 yards to move the chains.

Shamburger was 16-of-26 passing for 218 yards with an interception, while Hixon rushed seven times for 53 yards and hauled in three receptions for 25 yards, Justin Bonner six catches for 123 yards, Chandler Wilson three for 27 and Gabe Myers two for 35 for the visitors.

Theodore starting quarterback Cameron Rigby was injured in the first half and was relieved by Crishon Overton, who was 5-of-9 passing for 97 yards, while Braxton Clark ran 18 times for 40 yards, Tierese Scott had three receptions for 66 yards and Cameron Pruitt two for 31 to pace the home team.

The Bobcats turned the ball over on downs at the visitors’ 26-yard line and 29 in the first quarter, while the Toros missed field goal attempts of 22, 49 and 44 yards in the first half and had a bad snap on a 44-yard attempt in the fourth quarter.

Rigby was injured after getting hit on a pass that was ruled intentional grounding in the end zone, giving Spanish Fort a safety and a 2-0 lead with 2 minutes left in the opening half.

Miguel Frias kicked a 45-yard field goal that hit the center of the crossbar and bounced over at the 10:17 mark of the fourth quarter to move Theodore in front, 3-2.