It’s like he never left

It has been a while, but Charlottesville’s Raymond Parker is glad to be back on a football field.

The senior running back, defensive back and kick returner played at Monticello through his sophomore season before transferring to CHS, where he began to excel at another sport — lacrosse.

With a little help from Charlottesville athletic director Richard Lilly, Parker decided to give football another shot in his final year of high school. Lilly was convinced that Parker would add a great deal to a team that had its struggles in coach Chris Fraser’s first season at the helm.

“I didn’t get the chance to play my junior year, and Mr. Lilly had been talking to me, probably since the beginning of football season my junior year to convince me to come out and play,” Parker said.

An honor student off the field, Parker impressed Lilly with his “character, energy, work ethic and toughness,” and Lilly encouraged Fraser to come out to a lacrosse game and see for himself.

“I saw [Parker] on the lacrosse field and noticed first that he was a very modest, hardworking and bright young man,” said Lilly. “I immediately spoke with him and started the conversation about him trying football, as I thought it would be a great addition to our team.

“He was willing to try it out and has done a great job for us. You can never have too many young men that are bright, hardworking and have great character.”

Fraser added: “Before I even really knew Raymond, I’d seen him around, and when we were out here doing our thing this summer, I was like, ‘This guy can play, he’s got athletic ability.’ Mr. Lilly kept telling me all spring, ‘You’ve got to come watch this guy play lacrosse.’”

Parker made an immediate impact on a team that finished 1-9 last season and has since assumed a role that a year ago might not have been an option — senior leader. He admits that he didn’t have a lot of time to get back into football mode, but that it was a necessary adjustment — not just for himself, but for those around him as well.

“It’s been kind of hard,” Parker said. “You’ve got to step up — you’re not a junior anymore. You’ve got to take it on head first, you’ve got to show leadership, make sure people are doing what they’re supposed to do, when they’re supposed to do it.”

Parker said that former CHS four-year starting quarterback Kevin Leatherwood and his leadership qualities left a noticable impression on him, and without Leatherwood on the sidelines and in the locker room this year, it was up to him and his fellow seniors to carry the torch. Fraser couldn’t have asked for anything more.

“It’s just been a pleasant surprise for us,” Fraser said of Parker’s contributions on and off the field. “That’s just been a huge piece to our puzzle, and really, up until now he’s been our best running back. He brings stability, he gives us a 100 percent person and player. He leads by example, there are a lot of people out there that try to tell people what to do, but a true leader is someone who leads by what they do and people follow that, and that’s where Raymond is.”

Parker admitted that lacrosse helped in many ways in terms of translating over to football, mostly the conditioning aspect.

“It’s just a lot of running and it keeps you in shape, a lot of cardio,” Parker said. “My sophomore year we had a good team, everybody went hard and all out, and took everything the coaches said to heart. My junior year, we didn’t have a good season and so it kind of helped me. Even if we’re not winning now, there’s nowhere to go but up, and we’re going up and we’re going to get a victory soon.”

The Black Knights got off to a shaky start in their first two games with road losses at Robert E. Lee and James Monroe. Charlottesville hosts crosstown rival Albemarle tonight in its first home game of the season, and Wendell Green’s Patriots come into tonight’s contest with an identical 0-2 record, hoping to avoid being swept in non-district play.

The Patriots were outmatched by Monticello in their opener and fell to a much-improved Western Albemarle team last week. Despite Albemarle’s early struggles, Fraser knows that his opponent is loaded with talent and athleticism, and cannot be looked past whatsoever.

“[Albemarle is] a heck of a team and they’ve got some great athletes,” said Fraser. “We feel like we matched up with everybody we’ve played so far, and if we can stop beating ourselves then we’re going to match up and play well. Neither one of us have won a game yet, it’s our first home game, we’re breaking out our brand-new orange jerseys, which probably hasn’t been a part of this program for years and years. There’s a lot riding on it, but for us, our focus is us, and not beating ourselves.”

Tonight’s game is the final non-district affair for each school, as Charlottesville travels to Goochland to start its Jefferson District schedule next week, and Albemarle begins play in the competitive Commonwealth District at North Stafford. A win for either team could equal a huge momentum boost going forward into district play.