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Some players excel on offense. Others dominate on defense. It is what we are used to, it is what anyone that follows football is used too. Players that dominate their position, a position that is typically chosen due to a player’s size, ability, or skill. In High-School sports it is common to see players playing both sides of the ball. A player playing both sides of the ball is not rare, and in and of itself, playing both sides of the ball would not automatically get a player on our preseason watch list.

There are some exceptionally talented athletes in our local area that will be playing both sides of the ball for their respective schools this upcoming fall. Athletes that will put up stellar stats and will be getting a lot of attention from colleges. Some of those two-way athletes will be heading into their senior seasons with many scholarship offers already lined up in front of them. Athletes that excel in their offensive position as well as defensive position.

Then there is Fort Walton Beach’s Parker Hill…

Parker Hill is different. What he brings to a football field is different. In a day and age where athletes tend to excel in one position, or two for the gifted ones, Parker Hill excels anywhere you put him on the field. He is one of those rare players that when you ask one of his coaches what position he plays they all seem to smirk and simply reply “anywhere.”

As Parker Hill takes the field for the Vikings next fall in his senior season the only real question is what position he will not play. He has already proven himself as a dynamic player defensively at his Free Safety position, and on offense as a Slot, but what makes him even more intriguing going into this next year is his ability to truly play anywhere in the defensive secondary as well as offensively as a slot, a receiver, a running back, and he could probably even play QB if he had too.

What Parker Hill brings to the field in and of itself puts him on our preseason watch list for next season. What puts him at the top is his motivation and his drive. Parker Hill is one of those athletes that seems to never quit. He seems to have an intangible that keeps him going long after everyone else calls it a day. Parker is a multi-sport athlete, not only does Hill excel on the football field, he is also one of the top lacrosse players in the area, and if that is not enough, he also is a member of the Vikings Weightlifting team. Watching Parker lifting at a weight meet and then turn around and head straight out for a Lacrosse game shows just how motivated this athlete is.

Parker seems to be one of those athletes that carries himself with a quite confidence, there is no mistake how talented he is, but he does not seem to be vocal about it. He does not sit back while others are out working on their craft just because he has obligations to other sports. It is not rare to see him working out with his fellow football teammates, lifting weights with the weightlifters, and then heading out to lacrosse practice all in the same day.

The one thing that might overshadow his work ethic is his incredible football IQ. His football IQ is one of the reasons that Parker is so dynamic on the field. Not only can he play every skill position, but he can step into each position possessing in-depth knowledge of every technique and every responsibility of that position as designed by the Viking Coaching Staff. This is why Parker has landed as the first selected for our pre-season watch list.

There are a lot of extremely talented players in our area. However, when you watch Parker Hill on the field you immediately get a sense that not only does he love the competition, but he also genuinely enjoys football and loves the game. His passion for the game is what has made him into the athlete that he is today. An athlete that is going to put in the work during the upcoming spring and summer practices, and an athlete that is going to roll into next fall being one of the main topics opposing teams are going to be discussing in their film sessions.