Burke County picked up a big win last week, but lost starting quarterback Caleeb Roberson in the process. Now, Keenan Parker will have to play his three positions almost fulltime.
Trailing Griffin 27-22 late in the fourth quarter, Parker, a senior strong safety, punter and now starting quarterback, passed the Bears down to the Griffin 1-yard line with under a minute to play. Without a timeout, Parker got the team to the line and plowed over left-tackle for the winning touchdown with 20 seconds to play.
His dad, Burke County coach Eric Parker, wasn’t surprised.
“He’s a gym-rat,” coach Parker said of his son. “Back when he was born, I was the head coach at Laney (1997-2006), and, man, as soon as he got old enough where he could got to ‘big-boy bathroom,’ he would not miss a practice or a game. He grew up throwing, catching and punting, stacking the dummies up on the practice field and busting through them on the goal line … all the good stuff that coaches’ kids do.”
Coach Parker said Keenan’s performance against Griffin was by far the best of his four-year career. Keenan rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns on offense. Defensively, he returned an interception for a touchdown and had seven tackles. On special team, he averaged 40 yards per punt. He’ll need to keep it up, because Roberson is out for a while.
A senior dual-threat QB, Roberson separated his non-throwing shoulder, and, barring surgery, will miss approximately the next three weeks, according to Eric Parker.
Burke County improved to 3-0 with the 28-27 win over Griffin. Parker’s Bears also have wins over Statesboro and Jefferson County and face another test this week, when North Augusta, a AAAAA perennial playoff team out of South Carolina, visits Friday.
“I tell the kids it’s like an SEC schedule,” coach Parker said. “And, boy, are we banged up from it. We may have won the battles, but I’m not sure we’re winning the war.”
If Burke County gets healthy, Parker believes his squad has the potential to make some noise in the playoffs.
“The way that we have a chance to get better is that we have a bunch of sophomores who have a lot of potential,” Parker said. “I think as that group goes so will we go, as far as improvement. I think that’s where our depth has to come from. That group can end up making us better come region and playoff time.”
