By Jack Weiland
BROOKLINE – Cory Parks and his classmates stepped off Parsons Field for the last time Saturday, their heads hung low after falling to 1-9 with just one game left in their dismal senior seasons.
This wasn’t the way it was supposed to end for them. Not for this group. Not for a class that ushered in the most successful campaign in Northeastern football history as rookies.
Their swan song, sadly, was out of key.
“Gosh, it would have been nice to have a win for our seniors in their last home game on Parsons Field,” said coach Rocky Hager, pausing to look at Parks during the postgame press conference. “[Cory has] provided some very special things for us.”
The 2002 team, picked to finish dead last in the Atlantic-10 that season, won a school record 10 games and went to the Division I-AA playoffs for the first time ever.
It was a thrilling time on Huntington Avenue.
Starting from day one, Parks was instrumental in Northeastern’s magical season, making 34 catches for 458 yards and five touchdowns. Offensive linemen Mike Roseborough (6-feet, 3-inches, 305 pounds) and Ryan Gibbons (6-feet, 3-inches, 330 pounds) were also key members of the team that year. Gene Rich started every game at defensive tackle for the Huskies that year. Running back Anthony Riley, a sophomore at the time, played in every game and rolled up nearly 1,000 yards. Cornerback Bismark Osei added important secondary depth.
Parks continued to climb in the Northeastern record books in the following three years and, with one game left in his NU career, is second in career receptions (206), receiving yards (3,341) and touchdown catches (34). Senior kicker Miro Kesic set the school’s all-time scoring mark earlier this year, he currently has 300 points.
Their careers since that year have been significantly less successful, going 8-4, 5-6 and now 1-9 in the subsequent three years.
They suffered through the death of teammate and friend Joe Gazzola two years ago and the painful departure of former coach Don Brown during the same offseason.
Still, for Parks and the rest of his classmates, warm memories remain.
“Some of those guys were there a year ahead of me, because they redshirted and I didn’t,” Parks said. “But just from day one, there was a bond with the class, being inside the other locker room at first. Everyone was just having a blast in there, that’s probably what I’ll miss most.”
There will be major holes to fill this offseason. The Huskies graduate their top two wideouts (Parks and Patrick Graham), four of their starting five offensive linemen (Roseborough, Gibbons, Jason Khouri and Bob McDonough), their kicker (Kesic), an important and versatile running back (Riley), two defensive linemen (Rich and Brandon Cook), their best cornerback (Osei) and their strong safety (E.J. Jackson).
But, for now, none of that matters.
“It still hasn’t hit me yet that today was my last game at Parsons,” Parks said. “Maybe it’ll hit me when I lay down tonight, but right now I’m just filling up with all the memories.”
