Brayden Parks has received a scholarship to play football at Notre Dame because he’s 6-foot-2, 305 pounds and one of the best defensive tackles in the country.
On Oct. 2, visiting Fenwick found out that Parks can also run with the ball. In the Crusaders’ 42-21 Catholic League crossover victory, Parks scored on a 2-yard run in the third quarter and a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter. Those were his only carries of the game.
That came a week after five-star junior defensive lineman Kameron McGee caught a key touchdown pass in a win against Mount Carmel.
“This was definitely crazy that both of us get to jump on the other side of the ball for a change,” Parks said. “It just adds a dynamic and completes our offense.
“This was the first time ever with me getting the ball on offense in all four years that I’ve been here. This was great. … (Scoring a touchdown) is a great feeling as an offensive player but it’s even better as a defensive player. It’s amazing that they trusted me with the ball and let me punch it in.”
While Parks was finding life in the end zone very much to his enjoyment, he wasn’t the only player providing points for the Crusaders (5-2). Jameson Davis had 22 carries for 118 yards and scored on a 5-yard run at 4:01 of the second quarter to give Brother Rice a 10-7 advantage.
Quarterback Rocco Galasso was 13 of 22 passing and connected with tight end Jack McNamara (3 catches, 37 yards) on a 4-yard TD toss at 4:13 of the third quarter to make it 17-7. Galasso played the entire game with freshman Sam Holcomb sidelined. Holcomb is expected to be back next weekend.
Special teams also played a key role in the Crusaders’ triumph as Damari Thigpen returned a punt 50 yards for a touchdown, making it 31-7 with 10:13 to play in the game.
“I’ve been working on that since last season,” Thigpen said. “But they haven’t been kicking it to me this year. (Friday) night, they kicked it to me and I finally got a chance to show what I can do.”
Following a touchdown by Fenwick (4-3) that made it 31-13, Brody Briggs drilled a 27-yard field goal to make it 34-13 in favor of Brother Rice. Briggs also booted a 30-yard field goal in the first quarter.
Parks concluded the scoring for the Crusaders with his second touchdown of the game with 4:05 remaining.
“We’ve been working on some different things to get guys involved,” Brother Rice coach Casey Quedenfeld said. “Whether it’s Jack Mc(Namara) on the touchdown catch or Kameron catching the ball or different types of running backs and things like that.
“We had to adjust based on our personnel with some of the injuries that we had and some of the misfortunes that we had going into this game. From there, you just have to do the best that you can and move forward.”