featured photo credit – The Albany Herald
Parnell Yates has quickly become accustomed to his time at Mitchell County. After being an All-Region running back at Pelham his junior year, Yates is now occasionally lining up at QB for Mitchell County, chucking the football downfield and making incredible runs where he seems to break a tackle from every able-bodied person on the field.
In fact, the ladder happened last week in a 44-8 win over Terrell County. Yates ran a counter right, and just a few strides into his run, a defender was diving at his feet, but Yates pirouetted out of the tackle, keeping his balance, and was off to the right sideline. Two defenders closed on Yates from opposite sides, looking to sandwich him out of bounds, but the determined senior dragged the backside pursuer, then cut back so the two defenders collided. Yates then hit the jets and ran the final 50 yards to cap off the 64-yard touchdown.
The play was selected among the top 10 for Week 8 on Sunday night, and 24 hours later, it was voted the #2 play in the state of Georgia. For Yates, the senior season has been a test of his character.
“My senior year has been wild so far, man. Things haven’t gone exactly as planned,” he confided.
After moving around to Lincoln City, Indiana, this offseason, and then returning to Mitchell County, where he played as an underclassman, Yates has now been to three high schools in the last 12 months. He started off the season at QB, then in September, he mostly ran the ball, and now back to QB in last week against Terrell County, where he rushed for 217 yards while throwing for another 105 yards.
“I’ve improved on a lot of things, but the main flaw I’ve worked on and am still working on is my mentality. When I left and went to Indiana, it made me be uncomfortable, and I embraced that feeling. I sat all alone by myself for hours, days, weeks, and months just correcting this one flaw that many overlook. I eventually found myself and tapped into my inner self during my time away,” Yates said.
On the recruiting front, Yates has received interest from D1 programs, including the Military Academies at various moments, and has a P4 visit planned this weekend.
“Recruiting has been slow but great so far, and I have a college visit coming up soon to Georgia Tech this weekend,” he said.
With a strong appetite for learning and improving himself, Yates talked about what separates him from other college prospects in the class of ’26.
“I honestly believe that my mindset and discipline separate me from my peers. It’s great to have talent, but that just isn’t enough, and I see many people satisfied because they’re “good enough”. Knowledge is power, but many don’t understand how powerful.” He continued, “I understood that concept at a very early age through my plights, and I continue to learn more every day. Those events shaped me into the person and student-athlete I am today, and I am grateful to be blessed with the power of knowledge.”
With the introspection beyond his years, and the athleticism of a D1 running back, at 6′, 200 lbs., who ran a 10.9 100m last spring, Yates is certainly an interesting 2026 student-athlete. His recruitment is one to watch, because at any moment, the athletically-gifted senior could pop off with several D1 offers that could snowball his recruitment into more and more schools, so be sure to follow @RecruitGeorgia on Twitter/X to hear the latest on Yates and players across the state of Georgia.
