FCS championship game:

ASU vs. Delaware,

Chattanooga Friday at 8 p.m.
Big play history: Johnson

made key catch in

last year’s game
By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com

Appalachian State receiver Josh Johnson knows there is just one football used on the field. So, when it’s thrown to him, he better catch it.

Johnson knew that going into the fourth quarter of the Mountaineers’ 2006 national championship game.

Appalachian State was clinging to a 21-17 lead and needed a drive to not only eat some clock, but to possibly end up in points.

The Mountaineers started a drive at their own 20-yard line, but faced a third-and-10 from the Massachusetts 37-yard line. Appalachian State quarterback Armanti Edwards, a freshman, found Johnson, a freshman, for a 15-yard completion.

The play kept the drive alive and running back Kevin Richardson eventually scored from the 3-yard line, giving the Mountaineers a 28-17 cushion that would stand.

“We ran a two receiver route,” Edwards said. “He ran the in route and a post coming behind him. The safety went to cover the post and it left (Johnson) open.”

Johnson remembers the play call and the fact that he had dropped two passes earlier in the game.

“I tried not to think about it,” Johnson said. “I just tried to react. I get out there and if I get to thinking too much and worrying about what’s behind me and where’s the hit coming from, I second guess myself and talk myself out of catching the ball.”

Johnson confessed that when he walked out of the huddle, he didn’t know the play. He had to ask a teammate while running up to the line of scrimmage.

“I walked out on to the field and the huddle and I didn’t know the play,” he said. “I kept asking the guy beside me and he told me. I got to thinking that this is my chance. I was real thankful that they came back to me in a pressure situation like that. I was really tickled that they gave me another opportunity like that.”

There will be plenty of opportunities for Johnson, a former Avery standout, to catch passes. He may get some tonight when the Mountaineers play Delaware for the Football Championship Subdivision championship at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Johnson worked his way into the Mountaineers’ talented receivers rotation last year. He nearly had a reception against N.C. State in the opener on a slant pattern that could have gone for a big play, but the pass was knocked away at the last possible instant by a Wolfpack defender.

Still, Johnson caught 17 passes for 135 yards and a touchdown in his freshman season. He added 16 receptions for 185 yards and two touchdowns this fall.

Those aren’t huge numbers, especially when compared to the 101 catches and 1,400-yards Johnson piled up during his senior year at Avery, where he earned a spot on the North Carolina Shrine Bowl roster and all-state honors. But catching passes isn’t Johnson’s only role.

Standing 6-foot-3, Johnson is one of the biggest receivers the Mountaineers have.

“He’s an easy receiver to throw to because he’s got a big body frame,” Edwards said.

And since the Mountaineers run the football more than they throw it, Johnson is often asked to block for Edwards, Richardson, running back Devon Moore and anybody else who may be carrying the football.

“It’s real important, especially when they’re running your side,” Johnson said.

Johnson also has learned to be patient when it comes to having passes thrown his direction. A trio of seniors, Hans Batichon, Richardson and Dexter Jackson, lead the team in receptions heading into Friday night.

Batichon leads the team with 57 receptions for 789 yards and seven touchdowns. Richardson has 32 catches for 312 yards and three scores, while Jackson is third with 29 catches for 628 yards and seven touchdowns.

CoCo Hillary (22 catches, 298 yards) and T.J. Courman (17 catches, 157 yards) also are available to quarterbacks Edwards and backup Trey Elder.

“We all pull for each other,” Johnson said. “Sometimes you’ll have a game where you don’t get a ball, and you have to do everything the coaches ask. You go out and play your game and do everything you can that you have control over.”

Johnson said his family bought around 33 tickets for Friday’s game. He said it’s been good that his family has been able to see him play college football so close to home.

He’s also thankful for the support he’s received from people from Avery County.

“I’m really happy that I got the opportunity to play,” Johnson said. “I thank the Lord for the opportunities he’s given me and for keeping me healthy. It’s a great family, great coaches and a great opportunity.”