Parkway poised for big 2022 season

The 2021 season was a very successful one for Parkway.

The Panthers reached the Class 5A quarterfinals, upsetting higher seeds Alexandria and Captain Shreve to get there before falling to perennial power Acadiana.

Coy Brotherton enters his third season as head coach with a ton of momentum.

Brotherton arrived at Parkway with a ton of experience, including as a head coach at Plain Dealing and as offensive coordinator at Captain Shreve.

There is a ton of excitement surrounding the fortunes of Parkway in 2022 with 14 starters returning from its quarterfinal team.

That includes six returning starters on offense, including senior running back Jaylan White (5-9, 180), who rushed 194 times for 1,397 yards and 12 touchdowns and had 25 catches for 451 yards and three touchdowns a year ago. White has 10 college offers.

The new starting quarterback is senior Ashton Martin (6-4, 190), a transfer with outstanding physical presence and skill.

A pair of starters return at wide receiver, including seniors Trenton Lape (6-2, 190) and Dre Abner (5-11, 190). The new starter is senior Michael Collier (6-3, 190).

Also returning is mammoth senior tight end Jatavious Calhoun (6-1, 260), a load at the point of attack in the run game.

The offensive line features a pair of returning starters in senior center Chandler Davis (6-2, 310) and senior right guard Jake Morton (6-2, 280).

The new starters are junior left guard Aaron Galvan (6-0, 230), junior left tackle Dolan Williams (6-2, 280) and junior right tackle Jeremiah Williams (6-3, 350).
The defense is experienced and talented with eight starters back.

Senior end Ray Mayweather (6-0, 210) is a force up front. Mayweather had 12.5 sacks last season. He is joined by senior Kris Mesloh (5-11, 240) on the opposite side, who also started a year ago. Both starting tackles are back, including junior BJ Patterson (6-0, 300) and sophomore DD Oliver (6-3, 280).

On the second level, senior linebacker Barrett Newman (6-1, 215) was a stalwart with 93 tackles a year ago. Junior Amaray Brown (5-8, 180) is also back from last season while junior SJ Driggers (6-2, 210) is the other starter.

The secondary features a pair of returning starters including junior cornerback Ashtin Jackson (6-2, 180) and junior free safety Greg Chitman (6-0, 190). The free safety is junior Carter Wells (6-1, 170) and the other corner is a transfer in sophomore Camaro Mayo (5-11, 170).

Junior Aeron Burrell will handle kicking duties while senior Nolan Dean is the punter.

The schedule opens on Sept. 2 at home against Minden before the Panthers travel to Red River. The final non-district game is home against Bossier in week three.

District 1-5A play opens at Haughton, the alma mater of Brotherton, in week four. Then comes a home game against Captain Shreve before another road trip to Southwood. The Panthers will host Byrd before traveling to Natchitoches Central and Airline. The regular season concludes at home against Benton.

With a ton of experience and seniors, Parkway is poised to make a deep run in the Class 5A playoffs in 2022.

Click here for more CCS Prep Football team previews (including archives of past season previews).