DB or RB: Take your pick with West Mifflin’s Parker

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, July 16, 2018 | 9:18 PM

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The first clip on Parrish Parker’s highlight video shows him lowering his shoulder and knocking a wide receiver out of bounds.

In the second clip, the West Mifflin star separates a wideout from the football on a down-the-middle route.

Yes, Parker likes to hit.

The 5-foot-10, 180-pound senior earned a reputation last season as a hard-hitting safety, a position Division I recruiters want him to play in college.

Yet this year, he’s moving to cornerback.

“I said I’ll just do whatever’s best for the team,” said Parker, who played the position as a sophomore. “I like safety, but I also can play corner. … You’ve got to be more physical at safety. You’ve got to be ready to come up (and tackle) at all times, basically.

“Corner is more picks for me.”

With that move in mind, Parker has worked this summer to sharpen his man-to-man coverage skills. He intercepted seven passes when he last played cornerback two years ago.

“They basically said, ‘We need you at corner because we know what you’re capable of doing at corner,’” Parker said. “I could help the team there.”

That doesn’t mean Parker won’t still hit someone when he can.

“That’s why I say I’m different than other corners,” Parker said with a laugh.

College recruiters agree.

Parker holds nearly a dozen Division I offers. His favorites are Ball State, Kent State and Toledo, with Eastern Michigan also still in the running.

His list of FBS offers included Bowling Green, Buffalo and Old Dominion, along with FCS schools Duquesne, Robert Morris, Howard and St. Francis (Pa.).

Kent State and Toledo want him as a safety, but Ball State told him he’d have a chance to potentially play running back.

“That’s why I considered them a top school right now,” Parker said of Ball State, “because they said they liked me on both sides.”

Parker will be a two-way workhorse for West Mifflin. Along with starting at cornerback, he also is in line to be the Titans’ top running back now that Howie Reid graduated. Parker rushed for 884 yards and 11 touchdowns on 96 carries last season while he and Reid shared carries.

He had fewer carries than Reid but finished with more yards and touchdowns. He averaged 9.2 yards per carry, and also threw a 71-yard touchdown on a half-back pass.

His personal goal this season is 1,000 yards.

“They tell me every day at practice that I’ve got a big workload to handle this year,” Parker said. “I’m beyond ready for it.”

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chris at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.