East Webster football coach Ron Price knows he’s always got a secret weapon at his disposal. And that secret weapon is kicker Parker Burleson.
Burleson is one of the top kicking prospects in the state, making him one of Eleven Players To Watch in The Webster Progress Times/Choctaw Plaindealer coverage area, which includes Eupora, East Webster, Choctaw County High School and French Camp Academy.
Burleson enters his senior season with four offers in hand already, including an NCAA Division I offer from Grambling State University. He also has junior college offers from Holmes, Coahoma and Jones.
“He wants to get to the next level,” Price said. “And we are very fortunate to be a 2A program and have a kicker like him that can do all phases of the kicking game. And it’s something that he has self trained himself to do. He wasn’t the best kicker when he first started but he has worked so hard over the last three years and I hope this fall he will have a great senior year at East Webster and it will open up the door for him go on to the next level.
Burleson, a 5-foot-10 senior who weighs 170 pounds is a two-year starter and averaged 34.5 yards a punt with a long of 55 yards and had seven punts inside the 20. He was 29-of-39 on extra-point attempts and 5-of-11 on field goal attempts with a long of 47 yards against J.Z. George. In his sophomore season, Burleson had six touchbacks on kickoffs and averaged 34 yards a punt. He was 8-of-10 on field goals and 31-of-34 on PATs and led the team with 55 points.
Price said it’s Burleson’s work ethic that separates him from most.
“With Parker, there is no one that is going to outwork him,” Price said. “He comes up to the field and works kickoffs, punts, extra points, field goals on his own. He has been doing it since the day I got here. He’s one of the hardest-working kids on the team. He puts in the extra effort. He puts in the time and effort attending camps and doing one-on-one training with kickers and different coaches.”
And like any good coach, Price knows the value of a good kicker and what a part special teams plays in a game.
“As a coach, especially at a 2A school, you take kickers for granted and when you get your hands on a good one, you are very fortunate to have somebody you can put out there,” Price said. "We really anticipate this fall to be able to put the ball in the end zone which changes everything. If a team has to consistently go 80 yards on you, defensively, that’s complicated in most situations. For him to be able to flip the field in the punt game and for us to be able to have an opportunity once we cross midfield to be able kick a field goal, it helps you as a coach to be confident in your play calling.”
While Burleson already has four offers, Price said he suspects that more will come. Burleson is also making the summer camp circuit this summer. He’s already been to Southeastern Louisiana and Mississippi College. He’s also planning on attending camps at Alcorn State, Central Arkansas and Memphis. He’ll also attend a top 40 camp at Universal in Orlando, Fla., at the end of June.
“I think all depends on the season he has coming up,” Price said. “He has a lot of offers already in his pocket. The class act in junior college is East Mississippi and if you can get an offer from them or Northwest, you are playing big-boy football. Again, I think the more success he has once the season starts, the better numbers that he can put up, will get more attention for him from the bigger schools. I think the sky is the limit for him. His leg has gotten stronger and he has dropped a few pounds which will give him a little more speed on his kickoffs. I think he can be as good as he wants to be. I just hope that he as a great year for East Webster football and helps us win a lot of football games.”
Burleson is also a standout in the classroom as he sports a 3.8 GPA and already has a 25 on the ACT. Burleson said he wants to go into the medical field and possible be an anesthesiologist.
“If I was to sign today, I would probably go to Jones,” Burleson said. “Really, I will only go to a bigger school if I get the offer I want. If I don’t get that offer, I will go to a junior college and get the experience and hopefully get a better offer coming out of junior college. And Jones seems to be really adamant about getting guys to the next level.”
Burleson is also on the East Webster baseball and golf teams. On the links, Burleson shoots in the low 80s. Outside of sports, Burleson said he likes the outdoors, especially deer hunting and bass fishing.
“I love the outdoors, hunting, fishing,” Burleson said. “I really like to deer hunt. I love the adrenaline of when that big buck walks out. It’s kind of like lining up for a big kick. I got a big 8-point this past year.”
Burleson said the highlight of his career so far is the 47-yarder he made against J.Z. George while Price said his biggest kick was a simple extra point that led to a 7-6 win over rival Eupora last year.
“That 47-yarder against J.Z. George was a high moment in my career,” Burleson said. “That’s something I will remember all of my life. I also made that extra point against Eupora and we won 7-6. I actually had to make it twice. We jumped offsides and had to kick it again. It was early and I wasn’t thinking much about it and every point is huge, especially in that game.”
