Parent Named Gold Helmet Recipient

Cambridge, Mass. (Oct. 10, 2007) - Freshman quarterback Rob Parent (West Warwick, R.I.) of the American International College football team was named this week's recipient of the Division II/III Boston Globe Gold Helmet Award.  The award, which is presented each week during the football season to the top player in New England, was presented Wednesday at the New England Football Writer's Luncheon held at Harvard University's Murr Center.

"It's pretty crazy considering I wasn't supposed to play much, if at all, this year," said Parent. "This is a great honor and a lot of the credit goes to my teammates. We had great blocking up front and the receivers did a great job after the catch."

Parent, who was also named the Northeast-10 Freshman of the Week, completed 17-of 23 passes for 420 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Yellow Jackets to a 44-19 victory over Northeast-10 rival Merrimack. He was 12-of-15 passing in the first half for 285 yards and three scores as AIC took a 37-0 lead into the break. Each of Parent's touchdown passes went for over 60-yards, including a 71-yard score in the third quarter after the Warriors scored 19 straight points to open the second half.

"This is a great honor for Rob," said head coach Art Wilkins. "He was third on the depth chart entering the first game at Bryant and hadn't taken many snaps during the preseason. He ended up playing in the last series of that game after an injury to our starter [Shane Murphy] and we were so impressed by his poise we made him the starter the following week. He's quickly blossomed into an offensive leader for us."

For the season, Parent has completed 61-of-109 passes for 1,040 yards and nine touchdowns. He has a 56.0 completion percentage and a 156.02 efficiency rating through five games.

AIC next hosts Assumption October 13 at 1 p.m. in a Northeast-10 contest at John Homer Miller Field.