Greenville Christian School’s Marlon Palmer has already accomplished a great deal in his first two years playing high school football, but this upcoming season he is hoping to take his game to an even more elite level.
“My goal is to get 2,000 yards rushing this year,” Palmer said. “I know that’s a lot of yards, but I like to set big goals for myself.”
And, there is no reason for Palmer not to have great belief in himself. In his first two seasons playing varsity football, Palmer looked nothing like an underclassman. Even as a freshman, he already looked like one of the more stronger and more athletic players on the football field.
This season Palmer expects to carry an even bigger workload for the Saints. Last year GCS was led by a number of talented senior wide receivers, including Lawson Stokes, Mike Mohead and Jamichael Short. Since there is uncertainty about who will step up to fill their shoes, Palmer knows his coaches will rely heavily on the certainty of him carrying the ball for tough and critical yardage.
“I am confident in myself having a big season because I have done it before and I know what it takes,” Palmer said.
Like all other programs, Greenville Christian has been unable to do much since the coronavirus pandemic hit the nation in March. When the Saints step onto the field for their first day of practice Thursday, Palmer and his teammates will have to gel quickly before their first game kicks off on Aug. 21 at Tri-County. Players like Palmer and right guard Wendell Poindexter will need to show their younger teammates how to find success on the varsity level.
“It feels like we are supposed to be on the field already, but everything this year has not felt the way it should,” Palmer said. “We are just going to have to learn quickly how to play as a team.”
