Cunningham to play for Bishops

Published 8:24 pm Wednesday, April 30, 2008

By Staff
By KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
About the only thing more noticeable than Cody Cunningham’s long, red hair is his tenacious play on the football field.
It’s that tenacity that helped land Cunningham a spot on the North Carolina Wesleyan football team. Cunningham, a first-team selection at linebacker on this year’s WDN All-Area Football Team, will join a Battling Bishops team that went 9-3 overall last season.
The Bishops won the USA South Conference championship and proceeded to upset Washington &Jefferson College, 35-34 in overtime, in the first round of the Division III playoffs.
The 6-0, 185-pound senior, who hopes to add 30 pounds to his frame by the first game of college, will play “bandit” for the Battling Bishops.
Washington Pam Pack head coach Sport Sawyer said Wesleyan, who fell 64-0 to Mary-Hardin Baylor in the second round of the playoffs, will be getting a solid player and person in Cunningham.
Cunningham, the son of Charles and Donna Parker, said Sawyer and defensive coordinator Jon Blank played instrumental roles in his success.
Cunningham, who led the Pack with 109 tackles during an 8-4 campaign his senior season, is hoping to carry his high school success into college.
The Pam Pack standout said he knows it will be a challenge.