Dillard’s Chris Johnson is Broward 4M-3M Football Offensive Player of the Year
Chris Johnson’s stock began rising just before his senior year began. The Dillard running back doubled as a phenom on the track, where he has won three state titles — including the 100 and 200 meter dashes at the FHSAA Class 3A state meet last season.
That speed has translated to the football field and led to a breakout senior season, a building block for the next stage of his football career — a stage that will take place close to home with the Miami Hurricanes.
Johnson, as a result, is the Miami Herald’s 2022 Broward 4M-3M Offensive Player of the Year.
Johnson played a key role in Dillard’s strong season, one that was better than its 7-4 record and one in which it reached the Class 3M regional semifinals. Dillard’s three regular-season losses were to eventual state champions — 1M’s ChaminadeMadonna, 2M’s Miami Central and 3M’s St. Thomas Aquinas. The fourth was the Panthers’ regional semifinal loss to a resurgent Blanche Ely team.
Johnson was front and center in their run. He ran for 1,118 yards and 17 touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 280 yards and four touchdowns and could be an option to line up as a slot receiver.
Dillard coach Tyler Tate last month called Johnson “an immediate gamebreaker.”
“Every time he touches the ball,” Tate said, “he’ll have an opportunity to take it all the way.”
An emergent junior football season in which he made the Miami Herald’s All-County secondteam honors coupled with his performance on the track, which earned him the Miami Herald’s Broward County Boys’ Track and Field Athlete of the Year, led to Johnson receiving a slew of college football offers. He backed that performance up this season.
Johnson ended as the No. 17 overall running back in the 2023 recruiting cycle, No. 49 overall player in Florida and No. 252 player in the country regardless of position, according to the 247Sports composite ranking. He received nearly three dozen offers in total.
In the end, though, Johnson decided to stay home.
Johnson, listed at 5-11 and 178 pounds, signed with the Hurricanes in December during the early signing period. He chose the Hurricanes over the Ole Miss Rebels but made one thing clear.
“There was no second place school in any of this. It was always about being a Cane,” Johnson said after signing his letter of intent last month. “It’s a big step for me in my life, I know the coaches are really counting on me to go right in there and contribute and I’m hoping I can be part of a national championship.”