Nebraska football commit Jamarion Parker scores 4 TDs in Cardinal Ritter's season-opening win

Parker scored team-high 26 touchdowns during state championship junior campaign

Cardinal Ritter running back Jamarion Parker / Photo by Nate Latsch, SBLive

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI – The top-ranked Cardinal Ritter football team had a bit of a slow start in its season opener against visiting Jackson on Friday night.

Lions senior running back Jamarion Parker, however, did not.

A University of Nebraska commit, Parker scored two touchdowns in the first 5 minutes and finished with four scores in his season debut to lead Cardinal Ritter to an impressive 44-7 victory against the 11th-ranked Indians for the Lions' 29th consecutive win.

"We most definitely had some mistakes," Parker said. "That's gonna happen. But we came out in the second half and we made it up and we closed out the game."

Parker finished with 66 yards rushing and three TDs on 10 carries and added a late 21-yard touchdown reception from senior quarterback and Illinois commit Carson Boyd.

On a night when Cardinal Ritter retired the No. 3 jersey worn by Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams – and now worn by Parker – the senior running back proved himself worthy of wearing it.

"He wore it, so I made sure I performed for him," Parker said. "They retired it. So I came out and gave him a show."

A 6-foot, 190-pounder, Parker picked up right where he left off last fall when he ran for 1,644 yards and 22 touchdowns and added 267 yards and four scores on 16 receptions – accounting for 1,911 total yards and 26 touchdowns (both team bests) for the Missouri Class 5 champions.

Parker, a 4-star prospect rated by 247Sports as the 17th-best running back in the Class of 2025, committed to Arkansas at the beginning of his junior season before backing off that pledge in late March.

Related: Top 25 Missouri high school football preseason rankings (7/28/2024)

After re-opening his recruitment, Parker added offers from Minnesota, South Carolina, Alabama, TCU and Arizona State before committing to Nebraska in early June.

"Their coaching staff, the recruitment, they made sure they showed that they wanted me for sure," Parker said. "And it was the culture. I went down there a few times. The culture, the fans, everything, it was just amazing."

Nebraska has made inroads in recruiting the state of Missouri recently, including hiring former Lee's Summit North coach Jamar Mozee as an assistant coach.

Since Parker's pledge in June, the Cornhuskers flipped standout Lee's Summit North wide receiver Isaiah Mozee from Oregon and, more recently, added a commitment from LSU tight end transfer Mac Markway, a product of St. Louis area school De Smet Jesuit.

"They are most definitely building something," Parker said. "They are getting it going."

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Detroit Lions wide receiver has number retired by his high school

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- Nate Latsch |  latsch@scorebooklive.com