MALVERN — If someone would have said last year that senior Jordan Johnson would rush for 2,521 yards this year for the Glen Rose Beavers, some would have scoffed. The senior running back was part of a running-back-by-committee approach. This year, he took on the full load.
That’s how Johnson earned the title of Tri-Lakes Edition All-Area Offensive Player of the Year for 2015. He averaged 9 yards a carry this year on 278 totes. His 2,521 yards rushing put him comfortably in the lead for the 3A-5 Conference and nearly 500 yards higher than the second-highest rusher. His longest run was an impressive 94-yard scamper.
Johnson’s offensive coordinator, Darrell Ellis, said that this year was a tremendous step forward in Johnson’s last year. Johnson is a physical between-the-tackles runner but added more strength and a lot more speed with a rigorous offseason.
“We pretty much, at the end of the year last year — we told Jordan that we were going to kind of put it on his shoulders,” Ellis said. “He was one of those kids that’s always worked really hard. He had a great offseason, and we told him we were gonna go as far as he could lead us.”
Although Johnson shows passion for the game, he isn’t vocal with his teammates. He elects to show his team members the way, and this year, they responded. Johnson transcended expectations, and the team bought in.
“He leads by example,” Ellis said. “He’s one of those kids — he was always here for workouts and never missed any playing time. He wasn’t blessed with a lot of God-given ability, but his work ethic is incredible. He’s a hard-nosed tough running kid who actually did develop enough speed to make him a real threat to take it to the house this year.
“It was really hard for people to bring him down. He’s really strong in the way he runs. He doesn’t try to avoid contact, but he will run through contact.”
Johnson dotted the I in Ellis’ Spread system this year. The Beavers went 10-3 overall and 6-1 in the conference en route to a playoff berth. Glen Rose beat McGehee and Hoxie before losing to eventual runner-up Rivercrest in the quarterfinals. Johnson was able to put the team on his back and carry it on a deep run.
His success seemed to come out of nowhere, but it was all in the offseason work. The Beaver halfback proved that hard work is sometimes more important that natural ability.
“We put the challenge on him that he had to become stronger and faster than he was,” Ellis said. “He just kind of came out of nowhere. He didn’t have just a ton of carries; he was not really even the starting running back until this year. He consistently worked all spring and all summer.”
The senior will look to keep surprising people, and hard work will almost certainly be a factor in any success Johnson enjoys in the future.
Staff writer Morgan Acuff can be reached at (501) 244-4314 or macuff@arkansasonline.com.