Academy of Holy Angels running back Emmett Johnson is the current leader of carries, yards, and touchdowns going into week 4. In his first three contests,the 6-foot 183-pound back has 95 carries, 705 yards and 10 touchdowns. In his previous game against South St. Paul, he averaged 9.5 yards a carry with a total of 360 yards and 5 touchdowns.
“I feel like what took over in the last South St. Paul game was my trust in my O-line and their trust in me,” said Johnson. “We had a great week of practice and I feel like that is where we outworked our opponent.”
Johnson runs a 4.48 40-yard dash and has a 38-inch vertical. He is a shifty back that gets out of impossible situations, leaving opponents and fans in a state of shock. His vision and his instincts to hit holes and make cuts separates him from other backs in the state. Not only is he fast, he is also a strong back that doesn’t go down from just one defender. His strength also carries over to defense. He is a cornerback who likes to hit hard and gets fired up after a big hit. Offensively, finding the end zone is nothing new. Last season he ran for 1151 yards and scored 12 touchdowns in just seven games. In his sophomore year he gained 1062 rushing yards and nine touchdowns.
“My goal is to beat Adrian Peterson’s senior year rushing record. Which was 2,960 rushing yards and 32 Touchdowns. Adrian Peterson is my favorite running back of all time that I watched play as a kid,” Johnson said.
Johnson finished in the top eight in rushing yards in the state last season and was selected to play in the Minnesota High School All-State Team along with only five other running backs. He has Division I football offers from Western Kentucky, Central Michigan, Montana State University, South Dakota State University, University of North Dakota, University of South Dakota, Eastern Michigan, and Northern Iowa. His next game is September 24th against Robbinsdale Cooper at Holy Angels. These two teams have some bad blood between them.
“I would say Cooper has definitely turned into a rival school once we played them my sophomore year. After that game it turned into a rival game,” Johnson said.
Last season, the two teams faced off at Robbinsdale Cooper’s home field. After a hard-fought battle, Holy Angels ended up winning 35-29. Johnson had 281 yards and five touchdowns. However, the season before that Cooper got the best of Holy Angels. They won 41-34 at Holy Angels’ home field.
Whatever happens this time around, chances are Emmett Johnson is going to play a big role, as he does every game.