Parish and Jones snag AAC honors

Cougar Football
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Congratulations to these two young men on their performances Saturday night and their well earned honors.

HOUSTON – Houston linebacker Derek Parish has been named The American’s Defensive Player of the Week and cornerback Marcus Jones is special teams player of the week, the league office announced Monday.

The duo helped the Cougars to a 28-20 comeback victory against Navy in the conference opener Saturday at TDECU Stadium. The win was the third consecutive for Houston.

Parish logged a game high and career high 12 tackles against the Midshipmen. The Pearland, Texas, native added two tackles for loss and a sack while helping Houston hold its opponent to less than 100 yards passing for a third straight game.

Jones notched two touchdowns against Navy including a 73-yard punt return touchdown. It marked the second consecutive week the senior registered a punt return touchdown. Jones became the first Houston player since 2011 (Patrick Edwards) with a receiving touchdown and punt return touchdown in the same game. The Enterprise, Alabama, native is also the first Houston player since 1968 to have multiple punt return touchdowns in a season.

Houston looks to extend its win streak to four games when the Cougars visit Tulsa at 6:30 p.m. CT Friday. The contest can be seen on ESPN and heard on KPRC AM 950.

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Excellent.

Can we get Jones on kick return as well

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Congratulations to Derek. I knew he was just on the verge of exploding into prominence. Mom is wearing a big grin today and rightfully so. As for me, and I know many others share my sentiment-ZERO IS MY HERO.

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Congrats!

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@Twinmom, Derek looks leaner than last year. The program lists him at 245, is that right?

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One thing I have noticed so far is opposing quarterbacks are not going to sit back in the pocket very long.

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Yes, he is staying around that weight, maybe closer to 240.

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Congrats to both!!

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We would not have won without those two…Jones’ punt return kept us from trailing 17-0 and the half, and Parish is a leader on the defense…an inspirational leader at that…

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Well deserved, may they receive many more accolades. Go Coogs!

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Thank y’all very much :blush: we are definitely proud of him.

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Congrats to Jones and Derek — and to the Parish family too! This is utterly well deserved, and I have loved the overall team defense this year, including the outstanding defensive line play. Thanks to all involved in your son’s outstanding achievements.

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Thank you! He has had great coaches from little league all the way up. Instilled a great work ethic from his dad. His athleticism comes from me…I’m totally claiming that :wink:

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Those are Marcus McGraw stats right there. And I don’t care about NFL and all that tripe. When you play like Marcus McGraw you are the real deal.

Btw - McGraw was a Lombardi watchlist player.

That’s heady Coog company right there!

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A lot of props to both Marcus and Derek for their hard work and dedication. It really shows up on the field. Marcus just looked REALLY, REALLY FAST on that punt return against Navy. Derek just looks like he is chiseled out of granite and wants to get both the QB and RB tackled behind the line of scrimmage every time. He just looks so strong and fast off the line of scrimmage. Congrats again to those two ! Well-deserved. Go Coogs!!

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Thanks for the nice words about Derek. He is a very humble kid, and I’m proud of him for that. He always strives for better and it’s never enough. Jones’s will be playing on Sundays, bank on that one!

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And Derek*

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Did anyone see the Navy post game press conference? Coach Ken had a lot of praise for our Defensive line

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Good job gentlemen!!

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I know you are his mother and show a great deal of restraint here, but why not BOTH playing on Sundays?

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