CALUMET TWP. — Every season oodles of linemen dream of carrying the ball, just one time, just for a taste, just because it might be fun.
Most never get the chance, and for those who do it’s usually on senior night or homecoming in a low-risk situation like the waning minutes of the game.
Joshua Johnson isn’t most big kids though. At 6-foot-3 and 349 pounds, he knows his shot at college football lies in the trenches; however, the effervescent quick-footed senior that everyone calls “Bubba” is having an absolute blast running the ball at least a few times a game for Calumet.
“I’m a point guard at heart, so I always challenge myself to do little-guy things,” Johnson said. “I’ve got good footwork, and I’ve got good balance, so I just challenge myself to do something new every day, and when the opportunity presented itself for me to run the ball, I said, ‘Hell yeah.’”
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Friday night in a 35-20 loss to Griffith, Johnson turned heads on his first carry, an 8-yard burst early in the second quarter. Moments later he sprinted off left tackle for a 15-yard touchdown, the first points Calumet (3-1) has scored against Griffith since 1994, ending a streak of five straight shutouts.
He finished the night with six carries for 48 yards. He comes in for a package called “Flex,” and where he lines up is always part of the play call. He plays a sort of H-back at times or offset fullback. If he's not getting the ball, he motions as a lead blocker or just a distraction to lure defenders his way.
“I just want to thank my coaches for giving me the opportunity to even be able to help my team in that way, and I want to thank my teammates for trusting me,” said Johnson, who plays on the offensive and defensive lines when he isn't running the ball.
Last season Calumet coaches toyed with the idea of putting Johnson in the backfield to take a direct snap as quarterback. Against Whiting last season on one of his first touches, he ran 55 yards to the end zone but had the touchdown brought back by penalty.
Since then he’s scored several times and even threw two touchdowns late last season.
This summer the coaches, including offensive wizard Tony Klimczak, compiled the “Flex” play package to use Johnson, and the package grew and grew.
“We originally put it in at first as a gimmick for short yardage,” Calumet coach Rick Good said. “It’s about as crazy as it gets with a 350-pound guy playing back there. He’s so smart and so adaptive to whatever we need him to do. He’s really a pretty special athlete. The electricity in the stadium once he gets past that first level, it’s really pretty crazy. It’s really cool.”
Johnson’s late uncle Whitey Johnson and aunt Cheryl Johnson started calling their nephew “Bubba” when he was much younger. The youngest of 10 children, with four brothers and five sisters, Joshua Johnson is by far the largest one in his family.
A two-sport standout who has always excelled at basketball, Joshua Johnson was too big to play in youth football leagues. After middle school he attended New Tech Innovative Institute at the Gary Career Center. Since the school had no sports, he was allowed to play sports anywhere in Gary. Being from Glen Park, he chose Roosevelt. Weighing 315 pounds as a freshman, he played center for the Panthers for two years before he became a student and student-athlete at Calumet New Tech.
Joshua Johnson runs the 40-yard dash in 5.3 seconds. He is trying to drop his weight closer to an even 300 and eventually get to 4.9 seconds in the 40 to entice college scouts.
If college doesn’t pan out, he would like to get certified to be a commercial electrician.
“I believe in my coaches, and my coaches believe in me,” Joshua Johnson said. “And whenever anyone offers me an opportunity, I’m going to take it.”