 VC
grad James Johnson ready for sophomore season in Washington
Heading into his sophomore year at the University
of Washington, Valley Center High School graduate James Johnson
has plenty to be excited about this football season.
Johnson was named The Roadrunner’s
Newsmaker of the Year in 2008 after a stellar senior season at
VCHS, in which he caught 57 passes for 1,261 yards and 17 touchdowns.
As a Jaguar, Johnson broke the CIF San Diego Section record for
most receiving yards in a high school career with 2,930 in four
years as a varsity starter.
In his first season with the Huskies, Johnson
made 39 receptions for 422 yards and three touchdowns, including
a 17-yard touchdown on his first collegiate reception. He also
helped Washington to a thrilling 16–13 win over No. 3-ranked
USC last season by hauling in seven catches for 72 yards, and
was named to the All-Pac 10 Freshman team for his outstanding
first season.
This year, Johnson says he learned a lot from
his freshman season, and that it has helped him gain a deeper
understanding of the game.
“I’ve learned a lot about the business
aspect of the game,” he says. “What I mean by that
is that I see the way the coaches constantly stress competition
at each position to make everyone better. In college, everyone’s
much more equal that way. And you have to have a lot more mental
toughness at this level—a lot more than in high school.”
Along with the mental toughness, Johnson will
need physical toughness to bounce back from an ankle injury that
kept him out of preseason mini camps, and allowed him to return
to practice only recently.
“I missed a couple of weeks; it was a pretty
bad strain,” he says. “But I’m back at practice
and getting back in the mix of things, trying to get back to one
hundred percent.”
Even though he’s not sure he’ll be
fully healed in time for this Saturday’s game at Brigham
Young University (BYU), Johnson says he’s looking forward
to how the team is coming together this season.
“I’m really excited about our team
chemistry this year,” he says. “We have a real sense
of camaraderie that’s better than it was last year. We only
won five games last season, but I can tell we’re going to
win a lot more than that this year.”
One reason the Huskies are looking so good heading
into the season is senior quarterback Jake Locker, who threw for
2,800 yards and 21 touchdowns last season, and is an extremely
likely candidate to become the No. 1 overall pick in next year’s
NFL draft.
“It’s just a blessing from God to
be able to play with a guy like Jake,” Johnson says of his
quarterback. “He’s a great guy on and off the field,
he’s always studying the game, and he’s a tremendous
leader. It’s a great opportunity for me as a wide receiver
to play with such a great quarterback.”
And even as the college football season gets
underway this weekend, Johnson hasn’t forgotten the Jaguars
and their upcoming season opener on Friday night.
“I would just tell them to enjoy the game
and have fun out there,” he says about the Jaguars. “You
only get to be in high school once, so take advantage of the time
you have there. I love being here in Washington, but I miss Valley
Center too. There’s nothing like those Friday nights out
there on the football field.”
Johnson and the Huskies start the season on Saturday
at BYU at 4 p.m. PST. Two of Washington’s games are scheduled
to be televised nationally: a home game against No. 3 Nebraska
on Sept. 18 is set to be shown on ABC at 12:30 p.m. PST, then
the Huskies’ home game against UCLA on Nov. 18 will be shown
on ESPN and online on ESPN3.com at 5 p.m. PST.
|
