A sensational performance by French Camp junior quarterback C.J. Johnson in a 45-20 victory over Vardaman on Nov. 1 was rewarded when he was chosen as Mississippi’s Athlete of the Week by The Clarion-Ledger. Johnson carried 18 times for 331 yards and four touchdowns and completed three passes for 75 yards and one TD.
“It’s a huge honor,” Johnson said. “I really appreciated being nominated and I really appreciate the support from French Camp and the surrounding area for the vote.”
Johnson received the honor by an online vote among 10 nominees.
“C.J. is a great kid,” said coach Nathan Wright. “He’s an academic type of kid. He’s also a great kid to be around. He’s respectable, he’s hard working and he’s really done a great job at quarterback.”.
Johnson gave thanks to his teammates, especially the offensive line. “They were making tremendous blocks. I was getting to the second level easily. They made it easy for me.”
In his first year as quarterback, Johnson passed for 720 yards and six touchdowns and ran for 1,155 yards and 15 TDs that included a 97-yard TD run in a 41-6 win over Hamilton.
“At the beginning of the year it was a little bit of a shock,” he said of playing quarterback. “As the season has gone on, the game has kind of slowed down and it has become easier. My receivers are a good group of guys. They stuck with me and allowed me to make the easy throws.”
Like many of the good athletes at 1A schools with low enrollments, Johnson goes both ways playing in the secondary on defense. That means he doesn’t come off the field to rest very often.
“Coach Wright keeps us in great shape with conditioning,” he said. “At the beginning of the season, it was a little hard. But with a great coach like him and game experience you get used to it.”
Johnson has another year at French Camp, but he is already looking forward to college. “My main focus is I want to go to an Ivy League school or a very high academic school that has a good football program where I can fit it. My dream school would be Stanford.”
He scored 31 on the ACT, which puts him in the 97th percentile nationwide.
