Bee Prep of the Week: Tariq Parker, Wheatland

What a way to celebrate your 17th birthday.

Tariq Parker made it a night to remember, carrying the ball 16 times for 307 yards and rushing for three touchdowns to power Wheatland High School past Lindhurst 50-16 last Friday in a nonleague game.

The 5-foot-11, 185-pound senior averaged a whopping 19.2 yards per carry and had an 84-yard scoring sprint. And more momentum: Parker is The Bee’s Prep of the Week through fan voting on sacbee.com after winning 41 percent of the clicks.

Parker has rushed for 548 yards and five touchdowns in a 2-0 start heading into Friday’s home game against 2-0 Highlands. Parker ran for 1,100 yards as a junior with 10 touchdowns. This season, he has evoked memories of generations-ago Wheatland star.

Willie Clark dazzled in his day, in the late 1980s, and he was such a dominant sprinter in track that he sometimes won races in the Northern Section without removing his sweats. Clark played at Notre Dame and in the NFL.