Parkville building turnaround football season
Before the season began, coaches concluded that some teams that hadn't been too strong in recent years could emerge on the Baltimore County football landscape. Parkville was not one of those teams mentioned.
Going 1-9 a year ago in coach Jackson Tarr's first season as head coach, the Knights weren't in the conversation with teams such as Hereford, Eastern Tech, Perry Hall, Franklin, Woodlawn and Milford Mill. Even Chesapeake, which upset Eastern Tech Saturday, was mentioned a few times.
Now the Knights are in the conversation. At 3-1, with a 33-15 upset of then-No. 15 Perry Hall under their belts, they getting ready to host No. 8 Hereford Saturday at 1 p.m.
Senior running back Rashard Carter, who did not play last season but played as a freshman and sophomore, scored three touchdowns for the Knight's in Saturday's upset, but he's just part of the story.
"He's doing exactly what we expected of him," said Tarr. "More importantly, the rest of the team is playing well. They've turned it up."
In addition to Carter and linemen Dylan McKenzie, Marvin White, Josh Strother, Philip Okpara and Tae Kim, quarterbacks Tavis Jaskulis and Omari Timmons as well as tight end Jason Vick have been big factors in leading the way.
Tarr also singled out Michael White, who led the team in rushing last season as a tailback but has easily handled a less glamorous role this fall, moving to fullback where he does more blocking than ball carrying.
Tarr said he's also gotten a lot of help from assistant coaches John Marquette, who was the Knight's head coach before Tarr, and Harry McNeir, a former head coach at Towson.
The main key however has been having the team come together, said Tarr.
"I've talked to them since I got there about being willing to put in the hard work and do the right things and if you do that, it will show up on the field," he said. "Last year, we struggled but we continued to work hard and do the right things. I just told them, 'Keep doing it and it will pay off.' They do it and they believe it and it is paying off."
