It was quite the week for Parker football star Tim Merritt. First, Merritt flipped his commitment from Miami to Tennessee and signed with the Vols on Wednesday. Then on Friday, Merritt helped lead Parker to its first ever Alabama state football championship as the Thundering Herd beat Saraland 28-17.
Merritt projects as a defensive back at the college level but he also plays quarterback off-and-on in high school and he made some crucial plays on offense in the win including six-yard and 13-yard touchdown runs.
Parker 7, Saraland 0 | 6:31 1Q | Timothy Merritt on the 13-yard touchdown run for the Herd. pic.twitter.com/TsN75vgRm3
— Alabama6AFootball (@AL6AFootball) December 7, 2024
Parker plays in the highest level of Alabama high school football and the Birmingham school boasts a few big recruits in Merritt, four-star defensive lineman Jourdin Crawford who signed with Auburn and five-star cornerback Na’eem Offord who signed with Oregon earlier this week.
Saraland is has been one of the best teams in the state in recent years. Alabama star Ryan Williams went to Saraland. Four-star Texas quarterback signee KJ Lacey is Saraland’s signal caller while they also have a player who signed with Ole Miss earlier this week.
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Parker jumped out to a 14-0 lead and held on to earn the victory thanks in part to this Merritt fourth down run that set up the Thundering Herd’s game-sealing touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Timothy Merritt on a 4th and 10 gets the huge 1st down for Parker. There is 1:45 left in the game. Parker leads 21-17. pic.twitter.com/uUIxT486zy
— Alabama6AFootball (@AL6AFootball) December 7, 2024
Merritt ranks as a three-star recruit and the No. 515 player nationally according to the 247sports composite rankings. He also ranks as the No. 22 player in the state of Alabama and the No. 44 cornerback nationally in the 2025 recruiting class.
The 6-foot-2, 180-pound defensive back committed to Miami back in June, but Tennessee hosted him on an official visit shortly afterward and kept the pressure on before landing him on Wednesday.
Landing Merritt was important for Tennessee after four-star safety commit Lagonza Hayward de-committed ahead of signing day before eventually signing with Florida.
