McKinney and Kilby Make History at the Next Level

By Terry Futrell – November 5, 2018

The moon is in its seventh house, Jupiter is aligned with Mars, and two former Coalfield football stars played against each other in a nationally televised ESPN3 broadcast on Saturday. Truly, it must be the dawning of the Age of Aquarius! After playing on the same team at Coalfield throughout their high school careers, Parker McKinney and Jake Kilby found themselves on opposing teams Saturday as Eastern Kentucky took on Austin Peay, winning a close battle 17-13. Perhaps two former Morgan County teammates opposed each other in the past at the college level, but we are confident that Parker and Jake doing so before a nationally televised audience is a historical first.

Jake Kilby, 6-5, 300-pound offensive lineman for the Austin Peay Governors, is a 2018 graduate of Coalfield High School. As a freshman Jake has played in seven games for the Governors. The Eastern Kentucky game was not Jake’s first appearance on national television – he also played in the Georgia game on September 1 that was televised nationally. Unfortunately, Jake suffered an injury in the game with Eastern Kentucky and had to leave the game – his status has not been updated by the Austin Peay Athletic Department.

Jake is a native of Oakdale, but played his entire high school career at Coalfield. Jake received several honors for his superlative performance at Coalfield. In his senior year, he was named to the Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA) Class 1A all-region team, as well as Region 2-1A Offensive Lineman of the Year. Jake was also named to the TSWA Class 1A 2017 all-state team. In addition to football, Jake also excelled in baseball and basketball at Coalfield.

Parker McKinney, 6-3, 208-pound quarterback for the Eastern Kentucky Colonels, also graduated from Coalfield in 2018. Throughout the 2018 season Parker has worked hard in practice, but with three upper class quarterbacks on the Colonels roster, Parker was destined to be red-shirted. But, fate has a way of changing things. Eastern Kentucky lost two quarterbacks to injuries the previous week, and Parker practiced at No. 2 all week. Then, when Eastern Kentucky’s starting quarterback went out with an injury mid-way in the third quarter, Coach Mark Elder made the decision to insert Parker into the game. As quoted in the Richmond Register, Elder said “Alright big boy. It’s your turn. Here we go.”

And go, Parker did! At this point, the Colonels were trailing 13-10 and Parker had never taken a snap in a college football game. The stats tell the rest of the story. Parker led the Colonels offense on a drive late in the fourth quarter doing what Morgan County fans have seen him do best – precision passing, even under pressure. Parker completed 7-of-8 passes for 89 yards with no interceptions in the game, including the game-winning 20-yard scoring pass to his tight end.

During his tenure at Coalfield, Parker threw for 3,002 yards and 26 touchdowns. He led all Knoxville area high school players with nine interceptions as a safety on defense. Parker was selected as the Region 2 MVP, and named to the TSWA 2018 Class 1A all-state team. Parker’s ultimate honor came when he was awarded the coveted title of Mr. Football in 2017 for Class 1A in the State of Tennessee. Parker was also a four year member of the Yellow Jacket basketball team, earning district MVP and district tournament MVP honors.

All of Morgan County should be proud of the accomplishments of these two young men. It is exciting to think about how much more is to come over the next three years.