Keith Parker, John Sousa end run

By Dan Ventura | Wednesday, November 25, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | High School Football

Thanksgiving will mark the end of an era in the Boston City League.

Boston English’s Keith Parker will hang up his clipboard following the annual game against Boston Latin, leaving after spending the last 30 years as the school’s football coach.

Across town, John Sousa will march into White Stadium for one last time as the East Boston coach. Unlike Parker, Sousa’s season will extend beyond tomorrow as his Jets will face Bristol-Plymouth in the playoffs.

Leo Sybertz spent 31 years as coach at West Roxbury, amassing 202 wins, before retiring following the 2007 season. He said there will be a major void in the city when Sousa and Parker are done in the next week or so.

“First of all, both of them are excellent people, guys I really respect,” Sybertz said. “They’re both outstanding coaches, they work hard with the kids and have a great rapport with them.

“I’d want my kids playing for either one of those guys.”

It’s been a tough season for Parker, starting in August, when he was slammed in a newspaper article by a select few who suggested his time was up. As the team struggled during the season, Parker also had to deal with the death of his mother, Marjorie, in late October.

The highlight of what has become a 3-7 season heading into the Thanksgiving Day game with Boston Latin was the final home game against Charlestown on Oct. 30. Many of his former players were in the house, including several members of the 1993 Super Bowl team.

“That was a pretty special group of young men,” Parker said. “They lost a lot of close games as juniors, but they came back as seniors to win a Super Bowl championship. Those are the memories I’ll take from here.”

Across town, Sousa’s final sojourn as East Boston coach has been more pleasurable. The Jets already have clinched the Boston North title, thus the Thanksgiving Day game against South Boston won’t be the last Sousa coaches at East Boston.

“I’ve been reflecting about things more and more,” said Sousa, who spent 17 years as an assistant to Parker before leaving for East Boston in 1994. “You remember all of the good times, the special games, like the Southie game in 2000 when Wayne Harris scored the winning touchdown on a option run.

“That’s what keep you coming back. If I had a dollar every time I said this is my last year, I’d be a millionaire. But it’s the kids that makes you want to come back for that one last year.”

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/high_school/football/view.bg?articleid=1214402