The Tuskegee football program announced its list of signees for 2025 earlier this week, and it included a Birmingham player.
I'm posting about Parker recruits while neglecting to make mention of the school's first-ever championship.
The text below is from an al.com, I believe, but obtained from msn.com. The photography is from Vasha Hunt and there's plenty more of it here.
Parker’s Na’eem Offord, Timothy Merritt and Jourdin Crawford will all be playing big-time college football on Saturdays next fall.
As it turns out, they had one more big-time Friday night left in them as well.
Offord and Merritt, future defensive backs on the next level, scored two touchdowns each and Jourdin Crawford and the Parker (defense) limited Saraland’s high-scoring offense to just 17 points as the Thundering Herd won the school’s first Class 6A state football title at Birmingham’s Protective Stadium.
Parker finished 14-1 and was undefeated against in-state teams. The Herd’s only loss came against Carrollton, Ga.
...6-foot-1, 330-pound...Auburn signee (Crawford) finished with six tackles, 4.5 tackles for a loss and three sacks. Keshaun Johnson added six tackles and two sacks, and the Thundering Herd held Saraland to just 26 yards rushing on 26 carries.
Parker scored on its first two possessions of the game on runs by Merritt out of the Wildcat formation. He capped a 65-yard drive with a 14-yard run and a 62-yard drive with a 6-yard run, giving the Herd a 14-0 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
The two teams exchanged touchdowns early in the second quarter. (Saraland quarterback KJ) Lacey hit Deshawn Spencer with a 39-yard TD pass, while Offord scored his first TD on a 15-yard run. However, the Spartans took momentum into the half when Lacey and Spencer connected again on a 37-yard TD that Spencer caught between a pair of Parker defenders.
Parker put the game away with a 12-play, 43-yard drive that took 5:59 off the clock in the final quarter. Merritt converted a fourth-and-9 with a 15-yard run before Offord scored from the 2 with 1:37 left to clinch the win.
Offord finished with 98 yards and 2 TDs on 16 carries. Merritt had 78 yards and 2 TDs on 19 carries. He also had 4 tackles. Dylan Reese was 6-of-11 through the air for 74 yards.
Adding another player to watch in the college ranks in the near future.
Among Auburn's 25 signees this week, this four-start, 6'2 / 325 pound load from Parker stands out. Look forward to watching his progress.
The biographical info below is from Auburn's website.
Productive defensive lineman with impressive strength … two-year all-state selection for Coach Frank Warren at Parker High with 155 career tackles, 38 sacks … team MVP, all-state, all-region … Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game … first team Class 6A all-state, AL.com A-List … 67 tackles, 17 sacks (most in region) as a junior … ranked No. 8 overall prospect in Alabama by 247 Sports, ESPN … top 15 at his position nationally by ESPN, On3, 247 Sports .. honor roll student … also a track and field letterman in shot put … son of Antonio Robinson and Patsy Crawford.
Minor at Huffman is the Birmingham City Schools game of the week. While watching that site's stream of the game, I did a quick search on Huffman and the first result which appeared was an opening night affair against Parker from August 2004.
Seemed appropriate enough, so here it is below for the hell of it. At some point I'll run out of pro material to collect so maybe I'll get more into the high school history, but for now it'll be tossed in sporadically.
