Davenport football's Jalen Parmley uses late brother, old school as motivation in district play

MINNEOLA — Playing his former team and thinking about his late brother, Davenport sophomore running back Jalen Parmley did his best to suppress his feelings and run full speed ahead during Davenport's big district matchup against Lake Minneola High School on Tuesday night on the road.

The game was rescheduled to Tuesday evening because of Tropical Storm Helene strengthening.

With a win over Lake Minneola (No. 11 in Class 6A, Region 2), Davenport — the No. 10 team ranked in Class 6A, Region 2 — would have likely been thrusted squarely in the district hunt. But the two rushing touchdowns by Parmley wasn’t enough as Davenport fell 22-13 to drop to 2-3 on the year.

“We started off rough and knowing that I came from here, I just took it, put down my head and turned it up,” Parmley said.

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While Parmley put down his head to fight for his second touchdown of the game ― a 1-yard score that put the Broncos up 13-10 near the end of the third — his heart was heavy on a day that should have been all about district contention.

Davenport’s underclassman was a player on Lake Minneola last year. Not only was Parmley tasked to compartmentalize playing against his former team, also heavy on the mind was his brother, who died in a car accident in February.

But instead of dwelling on the tragedy, Parmley said he used it as motivation to get better in football.

“He just told me to keep going. All he wanted me to do was just turn up for the family. That just affected me by me believing in his word, promising to God I can do that,” Parmley said.

Parmley believed his brother's word and opted not to take any days off. He tightened his relationship with God and did nonstop cardio every day. His primary focus was getting faster as a running back, as he hearkened back to the way he ran at Lake Minneola.

His focus was also his lower base, too, as he envisioned himself trucking people en route for a score.

That happened against his former team, as he powered his way into the end zone for his second touchdown of the day and his third in 2024 as he aims for a college football scholarship.

Meanwhile, Davenport head football coach Jeff George’s inspiration is to get his football team to play more consistently, as this was the second week in a row the Broncos lost against a district opponent.

“We just didn’t capitalize, man. We had the ball on the 1-yard line (and) didn’t score,” George said. “Defensively, we let some things slip. We had one third down, and give them the big play on third down. It's things like that. We just got to be better. We’re still a young team, but there’s no excuse.

“This game I felt like we were ready for. They played a game last Friday. We didn’t. … They just wanted it more than us, and it showed. … We have to go back to the drawing board and figure some things out. … (We) just got to play a little more consistent.”

Davenport’s next game will be against Haines City Friday, Oct. 4 at home.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Davenport football's Jalen Parmley uses late brother, old school as motivation in district play