St. Joe Prep's Tom Johnson Proves To Be Invaluable
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Tom Johnson was there at St. Joseph Prep's Ground Zero, when Hawks' coach Gabe Infante was fitting the pieces together. The St. Joe's Prep senior remembers the 7-4 season his freshman year, and what it was like going 10-1 as a sophomore and still coming away with nothing.
So when the outside linebacker finally arrived at his time to do something about it, he suffered a foot injury and spent most of last year watching—until clutch time, when he played throughout the playoffs and in leading The Prep to its first PIAA Class AAAA state title in school history.
This year, Johnson has been plagued by a nagging injury, but again, the 6-foot, 190-pound Johnson, who's headed to Princeton, has arrived just in time.
The Hawks (10-3) will be going for their second-straight PIAA Class AAAA state title this Saturday against undefeated Pine-Richland (15-0) at 6 p.m. at Hersheypark Stadium.
It will be good to have Johnson on the field again.
"Tom's persevered; he's a tough kid who's battled through a lot," Infante said. "He comes from a great family. The Johnsons are like the first family of Prep football. Tom's older brother, Paul, was a captain for us when we went 10-1. Tom's a captain for us this year, James is a sophomore with us, and they have a younger one coming up."
Infante calls Tom Johnson his security blanket for the way he covers the open field. The Hawks' coach stressed that Johnson's high aptitude of the Prep defense instills confidence in his surrounding teammates. He knows where to go—and everyone else follows.
"Tommy makes me feel all warm and cuddly, because he does a lot of things that has the trust of the coaching staff and his teammates," Infante said. "It's why it's more than physical things. He's a leader. It's his ability to be vocal and police people. He's an emotional leader for us. The kids feed off him emotionally, because he plays with passion and emotion. The guys feed off his energy."
It's a major reason why Johnson is one of the unsung players on the Hawks. Stats don't bear his importance. That comes in nuance, watching Johnson through a coach's eye.
Johnson missed the Hawks first four games this season—when Prep started 1-3. His first game back was against Malvern Prep, back on Oct. 4. There is an interesting correlation here: Since Johnson's return, the Hawks haven't lost. They're carrying a 9-game winning streak into the state championship game.
"I never let the injuries get to me," Johnson said. "I tried to become another coach, and be there to do what I can. I have to give a lot of credit to my family and my coaches, because they kept me up. With us, it's always the next guy in. It was frustrating. I'll admit that. I wanted to play. Coach Infante has taught me a lot of lessons in my four years here. He kept telling me God had a plan for everything."
It won't be easy, win or lose, for Johnson on Saturday. Johnson is part of Infante's first graduating class at Prep. He's been one of the core players that have built this program to a statewide level. He'll be playing in his last high school game—a memorable experience he wants to remember as a winner.
Pine-Richland quarterback Ben DiNucci is 66 yards from breaking Pennsylvania's all-time single-season yards passing record, completing 246 of his 355 passes for 3,886 yards and 42 touchdowns.
Greeting DiNucci at strong-side off tackle will be Hawks' defensive end Jake Strain, and right behind Strain in the strong-side flat is Johnson. That's been a formidable one-two punch.
"When you have two players like that that are bright, both have 3.9 GPAs, they are both incredibly tough, very athletic, you're going to have a good defense," Infante said. "It's why Tommy is so huge for us, in so many different ways."
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