DALLAS - The dried blood on Parker Showers' left biceps was sneaking out of the top of the tape wrap covering the wound. It's not an uncommon sight for the Lycoming senior running back.
The dried up blood on his arms is as much a part of game day as getting his ankles taped. It comes with the territory of being a running back, and for as much as Showers is on the field for the Warriors, he's bound to get some bumps and bruises or cuts.
Saturday those bumps and bruises were well-earned. The senior, playing in his final game at Lycoming College, ran for a career-high 188 yards, including a career-long 48-yard touchdown in the Warriors' 38-0 win over Misericordia.
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RALPH?WILSON/For the?Sun-Gazette
Lycoming running back Parker Showers carries against Stevenson at David Person Field earlier this season.
As swan songs go, this may have been as good as it gets.
"I'm thrilled for Parker," Lycoming head coach Mike Clark said. "He's now one of four guys with more than 3,500 total yards in his career. He's the all-time leader in kickoff returns. He's one of the best guys on our punt team. It's nice to see him have a big run and get in the end zone twice. We're going to miss him. He's a good player."
Showers finished his season with just under 800 rushing yards, a total which is not exactly eye-popping. But consider he averaged 4.9 yards per carry and split carries with tailback Craig Needhammer. He and Needhammer each finished the season with 155 carries, and each finished with eight rushing touchdowns. Showers finished with about 100 more yards than Needhammer as the two combined for 1,466 rushing yards.
Through his four years he never complained about a lack of carries. He never clamored for the ball to be in his hands more. When it came time for him to be the featured back in Lycoming's pro-style offense after two years of playing behind Lycoming's all-time leading rusher in Josh Kleinfelter, he quickly had to begin splitting carries with Needhammer.
As a true freshman, Needhammer had a big game in a backup role against Westminster and began getting carries with the first team as Showers' backup. That role turned into a No. 1 and No. 1-A role this year. But you never heard a peep out of Showers. He could have probably been a 1,000-yard rusher had he gotten the bulk of the carries the way Kleinfelter did as a senior in 2010.
In fact, had he gotten the same number of carries Kleinfelter did as a senior (216), his 4.9-yards-per-carry average would equate to 1,058 yards, which would have been second-best in the MAC.
"There's nobody who deserves it more. He's the toughest kid I've ever seen play," Lycoming wide receiver Jarrin Campman said. "He just works so hard. I know if he were the main back he'd put up some big numbers. But there couldn't be a better guy to have a great game like that."
Showers' 188 rushing yards Saturday made him one of just four players in Lycoming history to finish his career with more than 3,500 all-purpose yards, joining a list that includes former All-Americans Kleinfelter and Tim Dumas, as well as former all-time rushing record-holder Brian Thompson.
Lycoming benefited from Showers and Needhammer splitting carries because the work reduction offensively allowed Showers to return kickoffs, where his 26.8 yards per return leads the MAC.
"That kid's a really good football player," Clark said. "His value is greatly underestimated in that we split two kids at running back. Parker Showers, if he played for anybody else the last four years, he probably has 2,500 to 3,000 rushing yards. We'll miss him."
But talk about going out with a bang.
