Cover story: Bearcat Kelvin Parker on the loose

Solita Day remembers watching the William Penn senior, then 8 years old, playing in his first youth football game. The first time he was tackled, Parker looked at his mud-smeared jersey and turned toward the sideline, as if to ask, Are you kidding me?

So rather than dirty his uniform anymore, Parker simply didn't let anybody tackle him the rest of the game. "No one could catch him," Day recalled, "because he did not want to go down."

Nine years later, opponents are still chasing Parker.

Few high school athletes can boast a combination of physical tools comparable to the Bearcats receiver. Parker marries

William Penn assistant coach Ali Johnson, right, puts Kelvin Parker through drills during a preseason practice. A shoulder injury cut Parker's season short last year, but the former quarterback returns to an inexperienced squad in a new position as a 'slash' player. A productive Parker could also spell success for the Bearcats. (Daily Record/Sunday News - Jason Plotkin)

Even fewer players are more indispensable to their team's 2010 hopes.

After an injury-shortened season last fall, Parker returns this year with a new position (converted from quarterback), a new coach (Shawn

Heinold, hired on an interim basis last month) and a William Penn lineup pockmarked by inexperience. For a Bearcats team clinging to dark-horse hopes in YAIAA Division I, Parker represents their biggest beacon of optimism.

"He's a big league player," said former Penn State cornerback and William Penn grad Knowledge Timmons, now a volunteer coach with the Bearcats. "He can go anywhere in the country. I believe that. He's got it."

Timmons isn't alone in his praise. Heinold, a longtime assistant at the school, raves about Parker's "limitless" potential. Bearcats basketball coach Troy Sowers occasionally refers to his do-it-all guard as The Freak.

And recently, more and more

Division I coaches - football and basketball - have called about the springy senior. For football alone, coaches from Maryland, Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Connecticut have inquired about Parker as a possible safety or receiver (none have extended offers yet).

That leaves the big league player with a big league decision: Which sport to pursue on the next level?

"I think a lot about that," Parker said earlier this month, his sinewy frame crumpled into a plastic chair in the Bearcats football coaches' room. "I still haven't decided."

Parker cracked a shy smile as he spoke, his voice barely audible above the din of coaches' banter. He is laid-back and soft-spoken, opting for stoicism over rants and pump-up speeches. William Penn basketball assistant Clovis Gallon once dubbed him "the silent assassin."

Most of the time, Parker's play is enough to suffice. Last year, the do-it-all guard was named YAIAA Division I basketball player of the year. Sowers listed Monmouth, Virginia Commonwealth and Loyola among Parker's higher-profile hoops suitors.

"He can pretty much go from one sport to the next and just step on the field and perform," Sowers said.

For the next few months, Parker will focus on propping up a William Penn program less than a month removed from the resignation of former coach Tim Hibbs.

At quarterback last fall, Parker was the engine behind William Penn's 6-0 start. In his first five starts (he was suspended one game for violating a school rule) Parker accounted for 1,009 yards (478 rushing,

531 passing) and 13 touchdowns.

But his season ended in a mud-splattered Week 7 defeat at Dallastown. Parker suffered a severe shoulder bruise in the second half, and the Bearcats' season fell into a tailspin. They didn't win another game.

"I think about that every day," Parker said. "It was tough watching my team, knowing I wanted to be out there."

Parker will have a new role this year. Heinold said he'll use the senior as a "slash" player, lining him up mostly at receiver but occasionally shuffling him to quarterback.

A productive season could shape Parker's future. So far his football pursuers have based their interest mostly on the promise of Parker's physical tools. But promise is nothing without consistent production.

Still, there are flashes. Like the sunlit Saturday morning last month when William Penn hosted Chambersburg for a scrimmage.

After spending his first few series at receiver - he caught a touchdown pass - Parker shifted briefly to quarterback. On one of his first reps, Parker fumbled a shotgun snap near midfield, allowing it roll 5 yards behind him.

Parker doubled back to scoop up the ball and, with defenders hurtling toward him, darted left like a startled deer in the woods. Once again, opponents were left chasing him.

This time, there would be no avoiding contact. Thirty yards later, Parker barreled into a pair of defensive backs and fell forward

2 yards.

"Somebody gotta bring that mean streak out of him," Timmons said of Parker. "When it comes out of him, I feel sorry for whoever he has to play against."

In the meantime?

Good luck catching him.

Related

· 2009 York Daily Record 2009 Division I all-stars

· 2009 York Daily Record 2009 Division II all-stars

· 2009 York Daily Record 2009 Division III all-stars