During the tenure of head coach Daniel Novakov, Parish Episcopal has established itself as one of the area’s preeminent producers of quarterbacks.
From 2017-2020, Preston Stone rewrote record books, throwing for a DFW record 13,207 yards while leading the Panthers to a pair of state championships before departing to play collegiately at SMU and later transferring to Northwestern.
Stone’s passing mark stood for all of four seasons, when it was surpassed by Parish’s Sawyer Anderson.
From 2021-2024, Anderson — who is currently playing collegiately at Arizona — eclipsed Stone’s career mark by more than 1,000 yards, finishing with 14,674 yards while leading Parish to three consecutive state titles in his four years.
The tradition continued a year ago, when Novakov instituted a two-quarterback system and Parish rode the arms (and legs) of then junior Johnathon Phillips and then freshman Logan Lucero to the program’s sixth championship in the past seven years.
With Army commit Phillips back for his senior season, and Lucero returning more seasoned entering his sophomore campaign, Parish has its sights set on what could be a staggering seventh championship in eight years.
“You always hear people say that if you have two quarterbacks, you have none,” Novakov said. “So, I’ve kind of shied away from that in the past. But when I did it last year, I thought if I could do this for the rest of my career, I will.”
Parish’s two-quarterback system is even more dynamic given the versatility of Phillips.
When not under center, Phillips will be a key component of Parish’s receiving corps.
Lucero, meanwhile, has grabbed the attention of scouts throughout the country and already received numerous Division I offers.
The career marks of Stone and Anderson could also be in range for Lucero after throwing for 2,478 yards and 27 touchdowns against just three interceptions in his debut season.
Individual records, however, aren’t on the mind of Lucero.
“My favorite record is our team’s record and to be state champions,” he said. “Team goals are my individual goals and achieving them is my personal success.”
Lucero doesn’t have any qualms with sharing quarterback duties, either.
“Me and Johnathon are like brothers,” he said. “In our eyes, we’re not competing for a spot, we are the spot. We are 1A and 1B and we work with each other.”
On the field, the pair have picked up where they left off a year ago, and in particular Lucero with now a year of varsity competition under his belt.
“I think last year, I was kind of treading water,” he said. “I was trying to wrap my head around the playbook and trying to earn the guy’s trust. This year, I’m a lot more calm and I know my job and my goals and what I have to do.”
Less thinking and more reacting will be an additional benefit to Lucero in 2026 as the Panthers have graduated much of their receiving production from a year ago.
But the sophomore, as well as Phillips, have already begun developing a strong rapport with the new Panther receivers.
“We got the new guys in this summer and now we’re familiar with the playbook and we’re ready to fire on all cylinders,” Lucero said. “My job, my goal, is to get the ball to the play-makers and let them go to work because we have a lot of great athletes on this team. I’m super excited for what’s in store for them.”
Lucero praised the play of Charlie Petet this offseason following a season in which he had six receptions for 49 yards.
He noted the capabilities he’s seen from Myles McClain and Greyson Bowers during the offseason, while Parish will also be adding a key transfer at receiver in Linkoln McKamie.
Parish’s potential ground game isn’t lost on Lucero, either.
In fact, he believes the duo of Jaxon McKinney and Dorian Vaughn is what makes Parish potentially even more dynamic offensively.
“We have a couple of beasts back there in Jaxon and Dorian,” Lucero said. “You watch them run and it’s like geez. And they’re not weak, either. I’ve seen them squat. They’re strong dudes and they’re going to be tough to bring down … teams are going to have to pick their poison against us.”
And then there’s Phillips, who in addition to his passing ability rushed 761 yards (7.11 per carry) with 23 touchdowns while also hauling in 15 catches for 282 yards and an additional two scores.
“He’s our best football player,” Novakov said. “He gives you so many things. Not to take anything away from Logan, but if I’m playing General Manager and I have to pick one player to build a team around, I’m picking Jonathon because he gives you so many options with his versatile and dynamic skill set.”
Perhaps the lone question mark offensively for the Panthers is how they replace the loss of four starters on the line, but Novakov believes a contingent featuring Aidan Lockey and Vince Gooch have the talent and work ethic to do so.
Defensively, Parish returns four starters, including defensive back Kingston Thornton and linebacker Rocco Bigham.
Other key contributors to the Parish defense are expected to be defensive linemen Luke Robbins, Giles Perry, and Steel Roy, linebacker Nile Cail, and defensive backs Hilliard Terry and Luke Johnson.
With the roster coming together, Parish is set to begin its march to state.
And the Panthers should be plenty battle-tested when the playoffs roll around.
“As good as Parish has been, we’ve never had an undefeated season, so that would be amazing,” Lucero said. “For us, that starts right away in those non-district games. Playing a state champion like Kinkaid, and Cornerstone (Christian Academy) and another state champion in All Saints is going to be tough. All Saints beat us last year, too, and knocked us off that undefeated path and it left a bitter taste in our mouth. So, we really want to beat that team.”
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