Johnson: Catch me if you can
NFA senior scores four touchdowns in upset of No. 7 Staples
Norwich — The Norwich Free Academy defense had once again stuffed the Staples offense late in Saturday's game when a staffer on the NFA sideline barked, “When we play like that, we're unbeatable!”
After a pause, the staffer wondered aloud where that play had been through the first three weeks of the Wildcats' season.
“I don't know,” NFA senior Jawaun Johnson said when asked that question after he and the Wildcats lit up previously unbeaten Staples 33-14.
And suddenly, the Eastern Connecticut Conference season just got much more interesting.
No one outside of the NFA locker room would've predicted that the Wildcats would so thoroughly dominate Staples (4-1), ranked seventh in The Day's Top 10 state coaches' poll, as they by far played their best game of the season.
“No, I did not see this kind of NFA on tape,” Staples coach Marce Petroccio said, “but their competition was pretty tough, too.”
Ah, the Wildcats' schedule. The ECC only provided them six games, so they assembled a murderers' row of non-conference opponents to start the season.
NFA took a 36-0 beating from Xavier to start the year. The Wildcats had minus-11 yards offense at halftime and finished with 27.
NFA traveled to top-ranked and defending CIAC Class LL champion Darien last weekend. The Blue Wave
thrashed the Wildcats 45-6.
“When you open up Week 1 with an opponent that's a top 10 team, and you've got a young team, and you're trying to tell them that they can play with those guys, until they go out there and have success, they have a little doubt,” Wildcats coach Jemal Davis said.
“People questioned why we took this schedule — because it's going to prepare us. ... When you're playing a good team, you're going to get more out of that than you're going to get against teams you can dominate. So, for us, it was perfect to be able to play those teams and say, ‘Hey, we might need to change personnel. We might need to change schemes.' We really had an opportunity to truly to evaluate where we truly were.”
NFA got its running game revved up Saturday as Johnson ripped up the Wreckers. The speedster ran 19 times for 295 yards and three touchdowns and added a fourth on a 90-yard catch and run.
“He's just ridiculous,” Petroccio said.
The Wildcats defense was arguably the biggest story. Staples averaged 341.8 yards rushing after four weeks, tops in the state according to statistics reported to MaxPreps. com.
NFA limited Staples to 74 yards rushing on 38 attempts. Malik Gibson had two of the Wildcats' five sacks. Caleb Parker had two interceptions and Miles Joyner added another.
“They kicked our butts,” Petroccio said.
It didn't help Staples that second-year starting quarterback Andrew Speed couldn't play due a hamstring injury, but NFA's defense was so quick to the ball.
“When we watched film, the (team) effort we felt wasn't consistent,” Davis said. “So when you play against good teams and you don't give that effort, you're down three scores. So what we told the guys is let's just stick to what we're doing . ... The key is believe in what we're doing and go out and finish.”
RJ Darby ran for a 2-yard touchdown on NFA's first drive.
Staples needed one play to tie it, a 69-yard pass from Danny Thompson to Julian Ross.
The Wildcats responded in just one play. Johnson took a screen pass from Shea McManaway and sprinted 90 yards down the NFA sideline for a touchdown.
Julian Davis caught a 33-yard touchdown from Thompson on third-and-16 to tie the game at 14 with nine minutes, 35 seconds left in the second quarter.
The Wildcats had a thirdand-13 from their own 19 on their next drive. Davis had previously seen an opening in the Staples' defense and called for a “safe” play.
That safe play was, of course, a handoff to Johnson. He fought through a few tackles and ran for an 81-yard touchdown.
Johnson scored on a 49-yard run on the third offensive play of the third quarter. He took a direct snap for a 32-yard touchdown late in the game.
“The two big losses that we had against (Xavier and Staples) definitely prepared us,” Gibson said. “We knew what we did wrong before against those other ranked teams, so now it was time to play another big team and show what we fixed.” n.griffen@theday.com
“When you’re playing a good team, you’re going to get more out of that than you’re going to get against teams you dominate. So, for us, it was perfect to be able to play those teams ... We really had an opportunity to truly evaluate where we truly were.” JEMAL DAVIS, NFA COACHQUOTE NAME