Burke County players ready to dominate for Coach Eric Parker
Under the Lights
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Burke County Head Coach Eric Parker is out of the hospital and on the way to recovery after collapsing at a game.
Now the team is in South Georgia, ready to take on Southeast Bulloch High in their last regular season game. It will be an emotional game for the team, especially on the road without Parker.
Here’s the latest on the Bears as they prepare to play.
“Obviously, we were still worried about Coach. We didn’t know everything that was going on,” Junior Brandon Lively.
Following Monday’s game, there were still a lot of questions about how he was doing.
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Nerves surrounded the team all week but on Thursday morning, that changed when he made a surprise visit.
“None of us were expecting. I kid you not. I could have cried. I was so happy. Everyone was happy. It was great,” he said.
Junior Defensive Back Jeremy Richardson said: “It was shocking. I was really happy to see that. I was happy he was doing better.”
Parker talked like he does every Thursday morning, for his weekly devotionals, but this one was about his life-changing experience Monday night.
Anthony Williams is the interim head coach. He said, “It was God’s plan for him to be where he was. Anywhere else, he wouldn’t be here this morning with us. He spoke to them about that. Just understand and live in the moment because you never know what happened. He was just like, enjoy life.”
Seeing him, the player’s worries about Parker’s condition went away.
“I think it just boosted the morale because we knew he was okay. And we just see him up and just walking around and actually here, that’s great,” said Richar
The Bears have some extra motivation in their last tune-up before the playoffs.
Lively said: “As long as we know he is okay, we go out there and play for him. We should be able to dominate.”
This is the third game Burke County has had to play in the last 10 days, but the players say they’re ready to give everything they’ve got left to get the win for Parker.
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