The Abridged version:
- The Del Oro Golden Eagles have won 12 CIF Sac-Joaquin Section titles since 1989.
- The team is coached by Josh Parry, who played fullback in the NFL, and features stars on both sides of the ball.
- The team is ranked fourth in Joe Davidson’s Sac-Joaquin rankings this season.
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The coach is the burly, bouncer-bodied, bearded fellow, all fury and fight. His bark and scowl could make the helmet decals at Del Oro High School ripple and peel.
His name is Josh Parry. He grew up in Sonora in Tuolumne County. Years later, he gleefully crashed into people in the NFL as a fullback.
The son also casts quite an imposing look. The Del Oro senior wears jersey No. 6, which is fitting since he plays about that many positions for the storied Golden Eagles of Loomis in Placer County.
His name is Landen Parry. He can line up at fullback, H-Back, tight end, receiver, defensive end and linebacker. And he is physical. You go watch a Del Oro game and you’ll know Landen Parry was in it. He is Coach Parry’s type of grinder, and one with a reputation as one serious fanny kicker.
The talent doesn’t end there.
The quarterback and receiver combo of Luke Taber and Chase Carmazzi are on a red-hot roll. They come across as mild-mannered young men, until they tear your heart out on a touchdown drive. The unsung grinders for this team include linemen, defenders and backups. And guys like Brennen Gibbs. The senior leads Del Oro with 16 total touchdowns. He is a 1,000-yard runner and a dangerous receiver and capable cornerback.
A bulk of the players on the Del Oro roster have grown up together, from youth ball to this, making this an enduring small-town football story that lives on. Football matters here. Home games include packed-in bleachers with all the trappings of a festive good time: the marching band, student rooting section, long lines at the concession stands, little kids running around in youth jerseys. And fans. Some squeeze into their 1980-era letterman’s jacket, and some will voice their displeasure toward referees they deem unfit for duty.
Del Oro has won 13 CIF Sac-Joaquin Section championships since 1989, including seven since 2005. The Golden Eagles are 11 years removed from winning a CIF State title and 10 years removed from nearly repeating as state winners.
Jeff Walters is the Del Oro junior varsity coach who is an alum of the school and coached the varsity Golden Eagles to a section title in 2018. During varsity games, he follows his young son, Logan, to a spot beyond the goal posts after extra-point kicks. The kid has good hands. Perhaps one day, he’ll be part of the Del Oro tradition.
Del Oro, Walters says, is “a special place.”
The best Parry football player?
The Golden Eagles are in the massive hands of coach Josh Parry, a longtime Del Oro assistant who took over as head coach following the 2023 season. He was a star in high school for the Sonora Wildcats, where he rushed for 44 touchdowns, and at San Jose State, where he met his wife-to-be in Kelli. She is a fixture at Del Oro games and practices, a mother to the program and one of an army of game-day volunteers who make programs like this roll on.
There is a debate in the Parry household as to whom the better football player is. Coach Parry or son Landen. And kid Parry is no one’s pushover at a muscled 6-foot-2 and 245 pounds. He runs like a receiver, has soft hands when catching touchdown strikes and lives to hit in the trenches or on defense. He leads the team in tackles with nearly 10 per game.
So, who’s the better Parry gridiron guy? Don’t forget Aiden Parry, brother of Landen. Aiden played at Del Oro in in the early 2020s and is now a Del Oro assistant coach.
“Oh, me!” Landen will argue. Says proud pop this week before a practice: “No, no. It’s me, but Landen says he’d take me down in a game.”
What father and son do agree on is that mom is the best athlete at the dinner table, and that includes Del Oro girls basketball stars from recent years in Madison and Shaelyn Parry. They are Landen’s sisters. Mom wins this argument without having to offer input.
Is Del Oro’s coach a fierce teddy bear?
Coach Parry remains in football because this is who and what he is all about. Football granted him a chance to play on scholarship. He played linebacker at San Jose State, recording 122 tackles as a senior in 2002, but the real thrill was playing with brother, Neil Parry, and then being forever inspired by him.
Neil Parry suffered a broken leg as a sophomore at San Jose State, and infections led to the amputation of his leg below the knee. He remarkably played with a prosthetic leg in a game for San Jose State in 2003. Josh Parry bounced around the pro football circuit, starting in Super Bowl XXXIX at fullback following the 2004 season, and then vowed to get into coaching to impact lives.
A family thrill played out in Mountain View in Santa Clara County early this season. Del Oro played at powerhouse Saint Francis High School, a team that includes Neil Parry on the coaching staff and his son Leonidus Parry on the roster. Del Oro won 19-17 as Malik Harris kicked four field goals, including the game winner in the closing seconds.
“We’ll never forget that game,” Josh Parry. “Just a blast.”
The grizzled coach is a contradiction. His fierce exterior belies his warm core. The man is a hugger. He loves everyone. He is impossible to ignore or dislike. But it’s also wise to avoid eye contact when he’s steamed.
“He’s a big teddy bear,” said Del Oro offensive coordinator Marco Baldachino, the one-time star quarterback for Oak Ridge in his first season working with the Golden Eagles. “He gives the most incredible pre-game speeches. Makes us all want to play.”
Said Del Oro assistant coach Mike Kravich, “The kids love him. He loves them. He isn’t afraid to tear up and get emotional.”
Kravich can speak of emotion. As a star two-way player for the Jesuit Marauders for the 1995 section Division I championship Jesuit Marauders team, Kravich had a pre-game ritual that included head-butting his father. The father insisted his son keep his helmet on during the head-butt fun. Blood would trickle down the father’s forehead because he didn’t want a helmet.
Parry lights up his players for effort and execution. He will unleash all manner of fire for a breakdown on fundamentals – a bad block, a blown coverage, a taunting penalty. Parry said football is a vehicle to teach life lessons, and he appreciates this team because of how much they care.
And in his son, he has his sort of player – driven, versatile and all in.
“He’s a great competitor,” Parry said of his son. “He loves competing. He doesn’t like to come off the field. He’s mad when I pull him, but hey, he needs a play off to catch his breath. We’re so similar. Some day, I’ll look back on this, coaching him, and it’ll hit me.”
A tough loss
Landen Parry is a college prospect because of his versatility, his football instincts and his physicality. The scholarship interest includes Sacramento State.
Why does football matter so much, coach?
“There’s something about the locker room, something special about sacrificing for a greater goal, a team goal, and there’s nothing like football.”
Football can also be humbling. Teams lose games they believe they should have won, so how to respond? Del Oro is 6-2 this fall, dropping a tight game at Oak Ridge in Sierra Foothill League action and an even tigher one last week at Folsom, 42-41. Folsom is top-ranked in our weekly JoeD Top 25 poll, Oak Ridge is second and Del Oro fourth.
Luke Taber found Chase Carmazzi for the fourth time for a nifty touchdown strike with eight seconds remaining at Folsom. The aim was to go for the win on the point-after conversion. Carmazzi let his emotions get to him as he pointed at three Folsom defenders and then spun the ball. Referees warn players before games that taunting will result in a penalty. Del Oro was penalized, pushing the point-after kick attempt back 15 yards. The kick just missed. Folsom celebrated and Del Oro seethed. This has led to more life lessons.
“That was our team immaturity, and we’ve got to grow up,” said coach Parry, who also praised Carmazzi for his season and for owning up to the flag. “We’ve got to realize, ‘Hey! Go celebrate with your quarterback. Go celebrate with your linemen. Go celebrate with Landen for helping you get open. Go celebrate with Marco Baldachino for the play call. Go celebrate with your team and fans. Don’t worry about the other team.”
A team of top prospects
A 3.8 student with scores of scholarship offers, Carmazzi has 12 touchdown catches this season. Taber has 14 TD strikes in his last three games. Carmazzi is the grandson of one of this region’s all-time great coaches and people; Dan Carmazzi was a 230-game winner as head coach at Jesuit and Christian Brothers.
“He comes to all our games,” Chase Carmazzi said. “I saw him recently at a birthday party, and we talked football.”
Regarding the taunting penalty, Carmazzi said, “I definitely regret it. It was a big emotional moment. I won’t do it again.”
Taber, the quarterback, is a transfer from Oak Ridge. Per CIF transfer rules, he had to miss the season’s first five games. Taber backed up and supported Grayson Haugen, who led Del Oro to a 5-1 start in passing for 10 touchdown.
Now the roles are reversed. Haugen is the back-up who supports his friend, and this healthy collaboration is an example of what binds championship programs.
“I supported him and he’s supported me, and it’s been great,” Taber said.
Taber is also a college prospect. He has touch and timing. He threw for 343 yards and six touchdowns against Folsom, warding off a pass rush designed to buckle him. Taber has a message for talented players who are eager to attract recruiting interest: “Be patient and keep on playing hard.”
Back to the fiery coach. Taber said of coach Parry, “Very good dude. Great coach. Very competitive, and we all love him to death. He loves us. He loves football and we love football.”
The competitive drive includes a bit of greed. The Golden Eagles want more. They want to close out the regular season with rivalry wins over ranked Whitney this week and ranked Rocklin on Nov. 6. Then it’s the Division II playoffs, which lead to the Northern California finals. The end goal is to play for a CIF state crown in Southern California in December.
“We haven’t played our best football yet,” Coach Parry said.
On his image of a bearded man with burning eyes?
“Intense, fiery, competitor, loves to win, hates to lose, a little scary,” the coach said with a laugh.
