Canton doesn’t look like a football team that went 1-8 in 2025.
And Dylan Parrish doesn’t look like a quarterback entering only his third season at the position.
The 6-foot-5, 200-pound junior looked poised and confident as the Cobras showed off their offseason growth during the Throwdown Before the Shutdown 7-on-7 tournament on Wednesday, June 24, at Plymouth High School.
After opening pool play with a loss to Romulus, Canton ripped off five straight wins. That included beating the Eagles in a rematch, knocking off Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse in the semifinals and celebrating a 22-6 win over White Lake Lakeland in the championship.
Canton dominated the title game. The defense intercepted two passes and forced a turnover on downs. Parrish threw touchdown passes to Jayden Fry, Jayden Nesheiwat and Alex Ryce.
“Our group of kids just worked hard, and I’m proud of the effort they put in, especially after losing our first game,” third-year coach Eric Newton said. “Had that happened to last year’s group, I think it would’ve been a disaster for us, but they rallied and rattled off five straight. This is a morale booster for these guys, and our program really needed that.”
Canton scored more TDs in five hours of summer football than it did during the entire 2025 season.
The Cobras were shut out six times and scored only two TDs through their first eight games. Parrish threw a 5-yard TD pass to Jamari Storie in a 26-6 loss to Livonia Churchill in Week 1. Two weeks later, Ryce scored on a 3-yard run in a 61-6 loss to rival Salem.
They didn’t reach the end zone again until a 43-33 win over Wayne Memorial in the Week 9 Kensington Lakes Activities Association crossover. Parrish rushed for 179 yards and four TDs, Elliott Patten added 184 rushing yards, two scores and a two-point conversion, Ryce scored on the ground, and Phinn Guoin added a two-point run.
That late breakthrough sparked the offseason.
Attendance in the weight room climbed. Parrish spent extra time throwing with his receivers. The team also met regularly for classroom sessions.
“We’re ready to have a big turnaround this year,” Parrish said. “We’re pretty early into the season, but winning this tournament is a good start. I’m just hoping we can keep it up throughout the fall. It’s pretty exciting.”
Last season, Parrish often had only one or two reliable targets.
Now he has weapons everywhere.
“That’s only going to make his game grow,” Newton said. “You can’t really lock onto one person, so he’s going to be able to make his reads and try to get all of our athletes in the best spot for them and us. Having him with multiple options is only going to make him better.”
Storie graduated after committing to LEAD Prep Academy in Brighton in December. But Parrish still returns plenty of playmakers, making life much easier for Patten, who drew plenty of defensive attention last season.
“It feels great and is a breath of fresh air, honestly,” said Patten, Canton’s lone first-team All-KLAA selection last fall. “Obviously, I’m still giving 100% every play either way, but just to get a little bit of pressure off me feels nice. That chemistry comes the more we throw with him. The more us [running backs] and wide receivers throw with him, the more chemistry we get and the more he performs.”
That chemistry didn’t happen overnight.
Parrish grew up playing tight end for the Plymouth-Canton Steelers because of his size. But low numbers forced Canton to move the three-sport athlete, who also plays hockey and lacrosse, behind center.
Learning to be a QB has been a crash course.
Parrish said he’s had to learn how to forget bad throws quickly and stay positive because his teammates feed off his leadership.
Having more weapons has made the transition much easier.
“It’s a lot better because I can pick matchups a lot easier this year,” Parrish said. “If I don’t have my outside guy because they have a good corner, I still have my slot that’s going to burn their linebacker any day of the week. So it’s just nice to have those options now.”
After beating Lakeland, one Canton player proudly declared the Cobras had won the first of three trophies.
The next two?
The Plymouth-Canton Educational Park championship against Plymouth and Salem, and a Division 1 district title.
That would’ve sounded unrealistic when Canton entered Week 9 last season.
Not anymore.
Led by Parrish, the Cobras have improved so much that they should be taken seriously.
“Seeing this tells me they’re buying into what we’re doing, and it just makes them more confident,” Newton said. “We have a good group of seniors who are leaders, but our juniors are seeing that their hard work is paying off. They’re all stepping up and jelling together. I’m happy to see all their efforts, especially [Wednesday]. They were tired and gassed in that last game, but they just kept making plays.”
Brandon Folsom covers high school sports in metro Detroit for Hometown Life and the Detroit Free Press. Follow him on X at @folsomwrites.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Behind Dylan Parrish’s growth, Canton football wins 7-on-7 tournament
Reporting by Brandon Folsom, Hometownlife.com / Detroit Free Press
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By Brandon Folsom, Hometownlife.com | USA TODAY Network
