Maquoketa Valley’s Parmely has a shot at state history

DELHI – He didn't know. His coach knew a little bit.

To tell the truth, there aren't many that realize the history Ryan Parmely could achieve by the end of the prep football season.

Not only is the senior running back trying to help Maquoketa Valley win its first state championship, he has a serious individual milestone within his reach. That's if you consider being Iowa's all-time career rushing leader a serious individual milestone.

'I am not aware of that,” Parmely said Monday. 'That's pretty awesome to be within striking distance. Hopefully our team keeps winning and blocking well. I'm just going to take it one game at a time, don't worry about any of the side stuff. Just worry about getting the ‘W.' We'll figure out all that other stuff when the season is over.”

Parmely has 6,363 yards rushing in three seasons as a back for Class A's top-ranked team. He's a four-year starter, converting from the offensive line, of all places.

His yardage total ranks seventh in state history, with former Solon all-stater and Iowa Hawkeye star James Morris, number six on the list, well within his sights (6,466). Parmely needs a little less than 200 yards to break into the top five.

If MV can continue to win, he's going to have a shot at former North Mahaska back Levi Ferguson's record of 7,142 yards. He's 779 yards away with potentially five games to go.

Maquoketa Valley (9-0) hosts Winfield-Mount Union (5-4) in a playoff opener Wednesday night.

'I really hadn't given any consideration to that because he's only been a running back three years. Those other guys (on the list) started for four years,” said Maquoketa Valley Coach Wes Wilson. 'Another thing is he has only played four quarters in one game this season. So for him to get over 2,000 yards this season is quite staggering. He's a special kid, a special player. It's been great watching him.”

Parmely had 2,544 yards rushing in 12 games last season and put up 2,476 (and 37 touchdowns) in nine regular-season games this season. Known for his ability to simply run over defenders, he lost 10 pounds (to 210) and worked hard on his speed and agility in the offseason.

The kid also is his team's leading tacker, as a starting linebacker.

'I think they were really similar,” Parmely said of 2013 and 2014. 'I got a lot of carries in games this season, which is just like last year. You can really tell the teams we've faced are keying on you more than they were last year. You have to work a little harder to get to the second level. You can just tell that they are watching you. It's helped open up our passing game a little more, and that works out to our advantage.”

Kudos to an all-new offensive line of Kody Orcutt, Curtis Nefzger, Matt Lansing, Chris Hoeger, Rob Boeckenstedt and Alec McDowell. Parmely actually weighs more than all of them.

'I did really focus on getting faster and quicker,” Parmely said. 'It started in track last spring, actually. I wanted to get quicker so our team could qualify for the 4-by-1 at state. I thought maybe I could help us out a little but, then I thought ‘Well, I ought to keep training over the summer and what not for football.' Maybe going to college and playing, I need to be a lot quicker. So I'm going to continue to work on it, even after the season is over.”

Parmely also is an outstanding wrestler and said he has not decided which sport he will pursue in college. He said he has gotten overtures from schools like Iowa, Iowa State and North Dakota for football.

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