Prospect Spotlight: Emmett Johnson – Holy Angels (2022)
Getting the chance to expand his role during his junior season opened new college opportunities for Academy of Holy Angels junior Emmett Johnson Emmett Johnson 6'0" | 180 lbs | RB Holy Angels | 2022 State MN . Now, instead…
Access all of Prep Redzone
Continue reading this article and more.
Continue ReadingGetting the chance to expand his role during his junior season opened new college opportunities for Academy of Holy Angels junior Emmett Johnson Emmett Johnson 6'0" | 180 lbs | RB Holy Angels | 2022 State MN . Now, instead of being recruited just as a running back, he is also being recruited at multiple positions – expanding his college football opportunities.
“This season was great for me,” Johnson said. “I played both ways this year. My sophomore year, I knew I could play defense, but this year, Coach gave me the opportunity to play both ways. I played a little bit of safety my sophomore year, but this year I was the starter from day one. In some games, my minutes on defense were monitored, but for the most part, I played the whole game both ways.”
Promoting himself as a two-way player paid off.
“I started off getting recruited on the offensive side of the ball, but one day I looked at my defensive tape, and I made a highlight, and that got a lot of coaches’ attention. Some of the coaches say they like me on either side of the ball.”
Johnson has offers from North Dakota, South Dakota, Northern Iowa, Central Michigan, and Eastern Michigan.
“A lot of Big Ten schools are looking at me. Some SEC and ACC schools have been recruiting me. It has been great learning about the schools and their program. I think in the next couple of months, I will be getting more offers. It has a been fun to try to find the best school for me.”
The school for Johnson now is AHA. They finished the season with a 5-2 record.
“This season was great,” Johnson said. “We had a lot of talent. We lost our first game, and that was a good lesson for us. We won four games in a row after that. We ended up beating Robbinsdale Cooper and Benilde-St. Margarets, which were big games for us and gave us the momentum to beat a good Orono team in the section finals. We improved throughout the year and peaked at the right time.”
“Our defense stopped the run well. We had some young guys in the secondary, and they improved as the season went on. At the start of the season, our offensive line had talent and got better as the season went on. We had a lot of juniors on the o-line, so most of them will be back this year. They put me in good positions to succeed.”
Johnson – a three-year contributor and two-year starter – got better too.
“On offense, I was able to break more tackles and was faster. Overall, I was a better player this year. I was more of a leader this year.”
“My strengths are my ability to break tackles and make people miss,” Johnson continued. “I can catch passes too. Being able to do both has made me more valuable. I have gotten better with my pass blocking. That was something I knew I could improve on.”
The junior made an immediate impact on defense.
“I led the team in tackles,” Johnson told prepredzonemn.com. “My vision is my strength on defense. I was able to read things quickly. I was verbal, and my teammates fed off my energy.”
Johnson – who enjoys listing to music and cooking – wants to become a more complete running back next season.
“I want to work on my hands so I can catch more passes. I want to work on my footwork and my cutting – being able to get into open space.”
Right now, he is working on his footwork on the basketball court.
“I play point guard and shooting guard,” the 6’0″ 185-pound junior said. “I do a little bit of everything. If one night we need rebounding, I will rebound. If we need me to score, I will score. Our basketball team has the most talent of a team that I have been on. We started slow, but as we got used to playing together, we are peaking.”
Johnson is a three-sport athlete.
“In the spring, I will run track. I ran track as a freshman too. I run the 100, 4X100. I also did the high jump, but this year I am looking at running the 4X200 – focusing on sprints. In the spring, I will also be in the weight room. This summer, I will be playing AAU basketball and working with a trainer.”
Johnson is working with a trainer and will continue to expand his college opportunities.