For stretches of the Sept. 18 Charter School Conference-Silver game, My’tanna Parker was the loudest player on Southfield Bradford’s sideline.
Which is saying something, since the defensive back plays for Redford Westfield Prep.
Along with three rushes for 49 yards and an 18-yard catch, the 5-foot-11 junior made two of the game’s biggest defensive plays to help the Warriors (1-3, 1-2) pull off a 6-2 comeback win over the Bulldogs.
And every time he came up with a stop, he made sure Bradford’s sideline heard it — whether it was jawing with receivers, coaches or even the chain gang.
“The one thing about My’tanna is he’s one of those old-school, throwback kids,” Warriors coach Cortreale Starks said. “He’s going to talk, but he’s going to back it up because he’s a super strong athlete who comes here to play every day. He’s just an electric player.”
Parker’s interception late in the third quarter set up the Warriors with good field position for what became the winning drive early in the fourth, capped by a 40-yard touchdown run from Damauri Suber on jet motion.
But it was Parker’s play on the next series that sealed the win.
Bradford had already driven into the red zone twice, only to turn the ball over on downs, including once at the 2-yard line.
This time, quarterback Nyzere Briscoe converted a fourth-and-inches keeper down to the 12, but penalties later pushed the Bulldogs back to fourth-and-27 from the 30. Briscoe heaved a prayer toward Carrion Givens near the goal line, and Parker cut across to swat it away with 2:02 left. The stop let Westfield’s offense kneel out the clock.
Parker popped up from the grass, dancing and celebrating in front of Bradford’s sideline, enough to make one chain gang member laugh, “Is bro emoting on them right now?”
“A couple of those guys over there for Bradford are some of his brothers that he played little league football with,” Warriors coach Cortreale Starks said. “They’re good friends outside of football, so that just wasn’t trash talk for him. Those are his guys.”
Westfield’s offense stalled at times, with several shotgun snaps never reaching QB Tayvan Sinclair. But the bright spot was Suber, who missed the first two games with a finger injury.
The 6-3 senior forced a fumble to end one Bradford drive in the red zone, then broke loose for the game’s best offensive play on that 40-yard score.
But it didn’t come easy. Suber motioned across the formation before the snap, and when Sinclair tried to hand him the ball, the two collided chest-first.
Somehow Suber kept his balance, turned upfield and outran the entire defense.
“That’s just the dynamic player Damauri is,” Starks said. “He’s had a tough summer and a lot of things go against him, but he’s overcome adversity every day. Him stepping up and coming back to the team has been a huge plus. As you’ve seen in the last two weeks, the sky’s the limit for what he can do.”
The Warriors were outscored 71-6 in the first two weeks, but last week they nearly broke through, falling 24-14 to Detroit Community.
Beating Bradford in comeback fashion should give them confidence. With Parker backing up his talk with big plays and Suber healthy again, Westfield looks far more dangerous heading into the second half of the season.
“Today was another dogfight,” Starks said. “We’ve got a lot of moral wins the last two weeks. We’re bonding together as brothers, and we’re trying to make a quick run so we can get into the playoffs, for sure.”
REDFORD WESTFIELD PREP 6, SOUTHFIELD BRADFORD 2
Westfield (1-3, 1-2)
Damauri Suber four rushes for 38 yards, one touchdown; one forced fumble.
My’tanna Parker three rushes for 49 yards; one reception for 18 yards; two pass breakups, one interception.
Keshaun Dellihue-Bell 13 rushes for 60 yards.
Tayvan Sinclair 2 of 4 passing for 17 yards.
DeShawn Brownlee two rushes for eight yards; 1.5 tackles for loss.
Dontaruis Griffin two tackles for loss.
Brey’lan Little one forced fumble.
DeAunta Meade one quarterback hurry.
Erion Redd one quarterback hurry.
William Graves 0.5 tackle for loss.
Bradford (2-2, 2-1)
Cameren Greer safety.
Xaiver Merriweather 13 rushes for 66 yards.
Nyzere Briscoe 12 rushes for 22 yards; 4 of 9 passing for 61 yards; one fumble recovery.
Carri Galloway two rushes for 11 yards; one pass breakup.
Keishaun Chambers two tackles for loss, one sack, one fumble recovery.
Frank Lewis tackle for loss.
Brandon Folsom covers high school sports in metro Detroit for Hometown Life. Follow him on his new X.com account at @folsomwrites.
This article originally appeared on Hometownlife.com: Redford Westfield Prep defensive back My’tanna Parker backs up his trash talk
Reporting by Brandon Folsom, Hometownlife.com / Hometownlife.com
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
