Parkville?s best football player comes from a place where they don?t play the game: Jamaica.
In fact, Andrew Ewers never so much as picked up a football before he arrived in Baltimore three years ago ? even if his play for the Knights suggests otherwise.
The 6-foot-2, 215-pounder has fueled the Knights? 3-0 start that has kept them in first place in the Baltimore County 4A/3A Division witha league mark of 2-0. But the senior has done it at an unlikely position: defensive tackle. Ewers has used his speed and strength ? he bench presses 250 pounds ? to compensate for his relative lack of size to excel at a position often dominated by much heavier players who provide pressure up the middle.
“I can go at the big guys because I?m strong and I have speed,” Ewers, who started playing football last season at the urging of friends, said. “I love sacking the quarterback.”
Parkville has gotten off to an impressive start this fall, outscoring Patterson, Dulaney and Kenwood and by a combined score of 99-0, continuing the school?s tradition of consistently fielding one of the state?s stingiest defenses. The Knights have allowed opponents to average just 7.6 points per game since 2005.
Up next for the Knights: The Catonsville Comets (2-1, 2-1), who host the Knights tonight at 7 in a pivotal league game between two teams with playoff aspirations.
Ewers has yet to draw the attraction of colleges, but if he continues his stellar play, Parkville coach John Marquette is confident Ewers? athleticism will lead to him being recruited. Ewers leads the team with 24 tackles and seven sacks, putting him on pace to surpass last year?s totals of 45 tackles and 10 sacks.
“Andrew is a very gifted athlete, a phenomenal athlete actually, and learning to play football isn?t the easiest thing in the world but he picked it up quick and has become very good at it,” Parkville coach John Marquette said. “He?s got a good nose for the football and is a tough kid and gets better and better every week, and that?s the name of the game.”
But Ewers? primary goal is to lead his team to its first state title in school history. Last season, Parkville finished 8-3 after suffering a 14-10 loss to Perry Hall in the semifinals of the 4A North Region tournament.
Parkville can take a major step toward making the playoffs this week against Catonsville, but it will have to stop Reno Jiggetts. The senior running back rushed for 261 yards and 4 touchdowns on 49 carries last week in a 38-35 victory over Franklin in a game the Comets trailed by 22 points entering the third quarter.
However, Catonsville has lost its past two games to Parkville by a combined score of 77-24.
“We know we are going to have to dig deep in the play book [to beat Parkville],” Catonsville coach Richard Hambor said. “It?s taken more film work and preparation to get ready, but its homecoming and the kids are really looking forward to it.”
