Players of the Pine Belt: Stringer senior RB/LB Bryce Parker

STRINGER, Miss. (WDAM) - The Stringer Red Devils look to bounce back from last year’s two-win campaign.

Second-year head coach Norman Johnston is going to lean on senior leaders like Bryce Parker.

“First off, he’s a good kid,” Johnson said. “He hardly ever misses a workout, he’s at school all the time, does what he’s supposed to do. Works hard in the weight room, gives maximum effort. He’s coachable, he’s smart. He’s just a pleasure to be around.”

“We progressed a lot since last year,” Parker said. “We got a bunch of young guys but I think they’re coming along great and they’re going to help us out a lot in the end.”

Parker will line up at linebacker and running back, expected to get plenty of touches in Stringer’s pistol Wing-T offense.

“I like playing running back,” Parker said. “You get to handle the ball a lot, get to see what you can do and how you progressed from the year before. Playing linebacker, it’s just like chasing yourself when you’re on offense.”

Playing in class 1A, Stringer has a number of guys needed on both sides of the ball – making summer workouts even more crucial.

“Conditioning is paramount,” Johnston said. “You’ve got so many guys that are going to go both ways.”

“We got good coaches that run us every day just to get us prepared,” Parker said. “Even though we hate it, it does us good to get out there and run and get in shape.”

The Red Devils relish the hard work – it makes it all worth it when they run out there on Friday night.

“It’s small-school ball,” said senior quarterback Jake Pippen. “It’s just a close-knit school, close-knit community.”

“Very fun but hard working at the same time,” Parker said. “It’s my last year to play football but we’re going to make the best out of all of it.”

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