Mars' Johnson meets one of his big goals
ADAMS TWP — It was not long ago that Isaiah Johnson was hoping to emulate one of the best running backs in the annals of Mars High School football.
Now he occupies a spot on that exclusive list.
“For me, it was Josh Schultheis. I wanted to be like him when I first joined the high school team,” Johnson said of the 2015 graduate who rushed for over 3,300 career yards and won the Butler Eagle Scoring Trophy in 2013.
Johnson won the trophy outright last season. His total of 132 regular-season points this year tied him with Karns City's Kaiden Powers, marking only the second tie in the history of the award, which dates back to 1990.
“To think that (Mars) players coming up now, maybe they want to be like me because of what I did,” said Johnson, a senior, “that's pretty cool.”
While rushing for 1,316 yards, Johnson's single-game point total this season reached 24 points in three different contests as he scored four touchdowns against Montour, Ambridge and Indiana.
He knows that he received a lot of help along the way, including an offensive line that featured center Max Aubrecht, guard Anthony Grieco and tackle Zach Kramm — all of whom earned spots on either the first or second team in Northwest Nine Conference all-star voting.
“Our line did a great job,” said Johnson. “We had some new guys, while others had experience, but they all stepped up. I give them most of the credit for what I was able to do.”
Johnson is the sixth player to win the trophy in back-to-back years, joining Freeport's Ron DeJidas (1991-92), A-C Valley's Mike Leach (1998-99), Karns City's Josh Fiscus (2003-04), Mars' Bill Bair (2006-07) and Grove City's Wes Phipps (2010-11).
When he was a sophomore, Johnson contributed to the varsity team as a starting wingback, gaining 506 yards in the process.
Mars coach Scott Heinauer knew back then that his Wing-T offense had found its fullback for the next two seasons.
“During his sophomore season, we saw the speed and overall drive and determination that Isaiah had,” said Heinauer, “but he's also gotten a lot stronger since then. A fullback in this offense has to be physical enough to run in between the tackles.”
Johnson rushed for a combined 3,552 yards and scored 52 total touchdowns in his varsity career.
“My time playing football at Mars was awesome,” said Johnson, who hopes to play in college. He has received a lot of interest from Division II schools. “The other guys and I bonded. You can bond in football better than you can in any other sport.”
