Casey Campbell/Corvallis Gazette-Times Philomath High senior Brett Johnson is enjoying his new role for the Warriors after moving from wide receiver, where he started the season, to running back, where he played for the first time last week.

Filling many roles

Philomath's Johnson makes the move to running back

By Kevin Hampton
Corvallis Gazette-Times

PHILOMATH — Practice was a few minutes away for the Philomath High football team, but most of the team was on the field in full gear, working through some drills with coach Gerald McEldowney.

Brett Johnson did not join them. Johnson was on the other half of Clemens Field, his pads, helmet and jersey piled on the grass.

Johnson wasn't taking it easy. He was busy getting his legwork in as the Warriors' kicker, knocking ball after ball at the goal posts.

Kicker is one of several roles Johnson has on the team.

He is one of a handful of seniors on the roster.

He plays both ways for the Warriors, staying on the field as a safety on defense when the offense punts the ball.

He returns kicks for the Warriors.

But it is Johnson's move from wide receiver to running back during practice the week before last Friday's game against Tillamook that has made the most impact so far this season.

McEldowney noticed Johnson's running ability as a return man and after catches and decided the team needed to get him the ball more.

The Warriors did, as Johnson ran the ball 27 times for 100 yards in the 28-0 loss.

"I've never played running back until last week," Johnson said. "It was hard getting to know all the plays and stuff, but once game time came, they came to me and people helped me out. The old running back and the quarterback told me what to do."

The transition will take time. Johnson has caught on quickly to the plays and knows he will get the help from his teammates. He is learning how to follow his blockers and run through the correct holes.

But even the most accomplished running backs can learn a thing or two and Johnson is still getting used to some of the simple aspects of the position, like how to carry the ball.

"I had to get used to switching it more often," he said. "With receivers, I just had it in one hand most of the time."

Johnson noticed that he was more tired after playing running back than he was at wide receiver.

At receiver, he caught the ball a few times a game and most of the contact he was involved in was making tackles on defense. Now he gets hit and he feels it later.

"I got banged up a lot more last game, but I'm hanging in there," he said. "I think I'll be fine."

Getting used to a new position has been easier for Johnson than going through the nonleague part of the schedule.

The Warriors are 0-4 and have struggled to put points on the board. So few, in fact, that Johnson has hardly kicked the ball on a Friday night.

He said he can hit consistently from 40 yards out and has made field goals from 48 yards out in practice, though he admitted he needs to work on his leg strength.

"I'm pretty accurate, though," he said. "I used to play soccer, so kicking's kind of come natural. I haven't kicked any field goals this year and we haven't really gotten the chance to kick an extra point, either, but I'm just going to keep kicking and we'll see what happens."

The Warriors are a young team with a new coach, but it doesn't make losing games any easier.

Johnson said the Warriors should get a few wins once league play starts.

"The thing that's been most difficult is just not winning games," he said. "Last year, we did OK. We almost made playoffs. But I think we'll still come out pretty good in league. The ValCo doesn't look too strong this year, there's like four teams without wins right now in the ValCo and someone's got to win sometime."

He said McEldowney is taking the program in the right direction.

"It's just kind of expected that a first-year coach isn't going to get out of the gates real fast," Johnson said. "We've been doing a lot better. (The coaches) seem to be a lot more organized.

"I think they'll have a really good team next year."

In the meantime, Johnson is enjoying his new role and wants as many carries as possible. He said he would like to break 100 yards again in tonight's game against Sisters and help the Warriors to a win.

"I like handling the ball more," he said. "I think you can do more for our team."