Johnson a master at QB

FOR THOSE football players who think they have respectable arms but are currently serving their teams in other positions, does James Johnson have a story for you!

He takes us back to the 2009-10 school year, when he was a member of the JV squad at Mastery Charter North (Pickett Campus, actually, but it's known as North for sports purposes) and was enjoying decent success as a wideout.

But then he engaged a schoolmate in a catch one day and coach John Davidson, fresh from being an assistant at George Washington, happened to be watching.

"You've got a nice arm," Davidson says to Johnson. "I can work with you, and make you great."

Flash forward to 2012. The 5-11, 180-pound Johnson, now a senior, is indeed a quality quarterback - and not just for his arm - and Tuesday he finished his scholastic career by creating a memory for a lifetime.

The Pumas visited Simon Gratz Charter (in year No. 2 as part of the Mastery organization) for a holiday clash and came away, in stirring fashion, a 34-26 winner. The teams had already met twice this campaign, in the Public AAA regular season and a playoff semifinal, and MN had dropped those matchups by a combined score of 62-31.

Plus, before it fell to Edward Bok Tech in the AAA final, Gratz had stormed to an 10-0 record, the best in school history.

"I was still confident we could beat them," Johnson said. "After they lost to Bok, I figured they wouldn't have the same amount of confidence. Wouldn't be walking around with the same kind of swagger. I was right."

So was Davidson, back in '09.

In this one, Davidson allowed Johnson to run or throw on each of MN's first 23 plays. In all, he was involved in 36 of 49 while accounting for 256 yards of offense.

He passed 12-for-24 for 199 yards and three scores (one apiece to Jermaine Norris, Idris Mateen and Armani Fuller-Williams), while adding 57 yards on 12 totes. A few of his incompletions resulted from drops. Most of the others were almosts. In fact, he badly misfired just once and that was when he McNabbed - you know, inexplicably threw it into the turf - a very short swing pass.

He showed arm strength and touch in equal amounts and the footwork . . . my, oh, my, was that there.

On two occasions, Johnson zigged and zagged and peeled back and stepped forward while drawing oohs and aahs. His best play was the 11-yard TD toss to Mateen because he came within a whisker of the right sideline before backtracking and lofting the ball from roughly the middle of the field to the left corner.

Of his switch to QB, Johnson said, "I believed in coach Davidson. With his guidance, I felt anything was possible.

"The structure he puts into playing quarterback is very important. I learned how to work with him and build myself up. It wasn't something I was just playin' around with. I had a passion for it. I love to lead and be a positive role model."

Once he takes the snap, Johnson likes to create dual-pronged havoc.

"I like a lot of guys in the NFL," he said. "Tom Brady, that's your pocket passer. Cam Newton and Robert Griffin III, they can pass and run. I try to do all their things."

This was the school's second holiday meeting. MN, not yet in the Pub and playing its first varsity season against a patchwork schedule, also won last year's. This time, the teams ate lunch together at Gratz, then the Pumas returned to Pickett, in Germantown, to don their equipment and bus back to Gratz for the 4 o'clock start.

"Coach gave us a great talk," Johnson said. "He said we'd been prepared all year to do great things. We just had to believe that we could."

The game's first play produced a scoring bomb of 63 yards to Norris. The next drive featured little-by-little movement before Johnson hit Mateen. Gratz' Daqwan Freeman ran for a 1-yard score, then Norris raced for an 85-yard TD with the kickoff, providing a 20-8 lead.

The Bulldogs had their own stars. Davone Cornish passed 11-for-20 for 111 yards and a TD to Nydair Rouse. Freeman (13-192) notched two other rushing TDs, and the longest was a 94-yarder.

Rouse's TD snag created a 26-26 tie with 5:32 left. The Pumas marched 61 yards in 11 plays and the drive-saver was Fuller-Williams' 17-yard burst on fourth-and-16. The chief rusher is also the punter and the snap came back on a hop.

"Didn't have time to think. Just to react," he said. "They were blitzing hard. Had to take that bad snap and do whatever I could. Give thanks to the line. They gave me blocks."

On first and 15 from the 22, Johnson connected with Ala Duppins for a 20-yard gain. Fuller-Williams then bulled his way into the right corner at 31.4 and Johnson hit Duppins with a conversion toss.

Gratz did create some drama, getting to MN's 35. But on the game's final play, at the 3, Norris thwarted a jump-ball situation by soaring for his ninth interception of the season.

Davidson then got doused and the teams soon gathered for trophy presentations. Johnson and Freeman were named the overall top players. Fuller-Williams, Cornish (offense), MN linebacker Christopher Batts and Gratz end Saeed Sheard (defense) also were honored.

Johnson, who lives on 57th near Arch, in West Philly, would love to play quarterback in college.

"But I realize I'm not the biggest guy," he said. "On the applications I've been filling out for college programs, I've been putting down 'athlete.' "

Agreed. But also an impressive QB.