PARKE HERITAGE FB PREVIEW: No more Johnsons or Moore for Parke Heritage

Aug. 17—Most of you know by now, especially if you're a Parke County high school football fan, that the Johnson-to-Johnson connection is history at Parke Heritage.

For the past three seasons, the multi-talented brothers — Noble Johnson, one year older and the wide receiver who graduated in 2022, and Christian Johnson, the quarterback who is beginning his senior year this fall — rewrote record books on the gridiron. In 2021, they also led the Wolves to their first Class 1A sectional championship in football along with a Wabash River Conference (WRC) title and a 10-3 overall record under coach Brian Moore.

Noble Johnson, in fact, stands atop Indiana's all-time receptions board with 277. He also accumulated 4,358 receiving yards and 56 receiving touchdowns, plus eight other TDs, for a total of 64. Noble's next organized football is slated to be for Coffeyville Community College in Kansas.

Christian Johnson, who started full time at QB as a sophomore and junior, passed for 82 touchdowns (plus two as a freshman in 2019) and 6,065 yards in 2020 and 2021 combined. He also rushed for 20 TDs over the Wolves' last two seasons (10 in each).

But Christian moved with his mother, former Indiana State basketball standout Kristy Thomann, down south this year. So he'll be playing his final season of high school football for George Washington Carver in Montgomery, Ala.

Not only are the Johnsons gone from Parke Heritage, Moore is now coaching at North Putnam after a successful four-year stint with the Wolves.

So in comes 1996 Rockville High School graduate Dan Rector to take over the reins. After previously guiding Rushville for three seasons, he became interim head coach at Indian Creek for its final four games in 2021. Prior to that, Rector had been Whiteland's defensive coordinator for 16 seasons.

But when an opportunity arose in 2022 to come home and coach the consolidated version of his alma mater, he jumped at it.

"Parke Heritage was very attractive to me because of my connections to the community," said Rector, who played football, basketball and baseball and ran track for the Rox in the mid-1990s before playing four seasons as a defensive lineman for Franklin College's football squad.

"I am excited to have my family back in the county," added Rector, who also teaches advanced physical conditioning and geometry at the high school.

Moore, who still teaches in Parke County, has prepared Rector the best he could for this unique situation.

"We've had several good talks and I am very appreciative of the legacy he has left in place at PHHS," Rector told the Tribune-Star.

Rector realizes this season will be a challenge, but he welcomes it with open arms.

"We graduated a very talented class last year," Rector pointed out. "But we still have many promising young players. We have two talented sophomore running backs in Jerrid Graves and Daman Spurr. Senior Ty Hartman leads our wide receivers and returning all-conference senior C.D. Engle anchors our offensive line. Cole Bordeaux is a strong blocker and receiver as a senior tight end. Junior John Kramer figures to handle kickoff and punting duties this year."

Being a relatively small school, it should be no surprise that Parke Heritage carries several two-way players.

"We will have nine first-year starters on defense," Rector explained. "But just like on offense, we have young players ready to step up. Inside linebackers Bordeaux and Graves return as starters and will lead the Wolves on defense.

"We will have 10 first-year starters on offense. These young men have worked very hard in the offseason and are excited for the chance to step up."

Rector admits he's also excited to be back in the WRC after a couple decades away.

"There are many strong programs and great coaches in this conference," he emphasized. "We know North and South Vermillion will both be very good and the Riverton Parke game [Oct. 7] will be an intense county-rivalry battle."

The Wolves' season opener will be Friday at home against Linton, with kickoff slated for 7 p.m.