2A state football notebook: Johnson shines in Murphy’s win

Published 7:10 pm Saturday, December 3, 2016

TACOMA — Connor Johnson proved Saturday that his performance in last week’s 2A football state tournament semifinal contest wasn’t a fluke.

The Archbishop Murphy senior quarterback completed 11 of 12 passes for 242 yards and five touchdowns on Nov. 26 in the Wildcats’ win over Lynden. In Saturday’s 2A state title game against Liberty (Issaquah), he put up almost identical numbers — 11 of 12 for 361 yards and five scores.

It was obvious early that the Wildcats determined they would be able to put up points primarily by throwing the ball deep, and they were correct. Johnson threw touchdown passes of 60, 51, 64, 50 and 69 yards.

“Those plays just happened,” Johnson said after the game, which Archbishop Murphy won 56-14. “We didn’t have any plans of running the ball heavily or passing the ball heavily. Those plays just happened on their own.”

The only reason that somebody might be surprised by Johnson’s gaudy numbers the last two weeks is the fact that for most of this season, the Wildcats have been a run-first team.

Johnson entered Saturday’s game with efficient, but not necessarily eye-popping numbers as a result: a 70-percent completion percentage, 1,392 passing yards, 19 touchdowns and three interceptions on 86 passing attempts.

But he’s never been shy about letting Archbishop Murphy coach Jerry Jensen know that he’d welcome more opportunities in the passing game.

“I’m always in his ear about throwing the ball more,” Johnson said, smiling. “Me and him have a little fun with that.”

Wildcats wide receiver Anfernee Gurley called Johnson “a natural-born leader.”

“The way he reads the defense (and) the way he communicates with (the) receivers is amazing,” Gurley said. “He doesn’t get the chances he deserves, but he really did his part this whole season, stayed focused, kept his head up even though he didn’t get the pass attempts that he wanted. He did really amazing all season.”

“It’s hard through the course of the season when you’re up so big early. You try to be respectful and don’t want to run up the score,” Jensen said. “But in a setting like (Saturday’s game), you just kind of go for it, so we did open it up a little bit. But Connor’s a great quarterback, and he could’ve been doing this all year if had we called (those) kinds of plays.”

Here’s the kicker

Archbishop Murphy kicker Ryan Henderson’s stellar performance has been an underrated aspect of Archbishop Murphy’s dominance this season.

Simply put, he’s got a strong leg. He entered Saturday’s game with a 59.3-yard kickoff average, 51-for-51 on point-after attempts and 12-of-14 on field goals, with a long of 56 yards. Against the Patriots, seven of his nine kickoffs ended up as touchbacks, with several of those kicks flying out of the end zone.

“Having the (opponents’) offense start out at the 20(-yard line) every time and knowing that we can call for a field goal on the other side of the 50 (has been a great advantage),” Jensen said. “He’s a great weapon to have.”

Henderson, who also plays for the Wildcats boys soccer team, turned out for football as a sophomore, “a great decision,” he said.

“I just try to play my part,” he said. “I don’t want to put too much on myself; I just do it for the team. I’m enjoying it. I grew up playing soccer, and there’s no way I could do what I do (on the football field) without (my) soccer (background).”

Forfeits not a concern

It was an unorthodox season for the Wildcats to say the least. Five of their opponents forfeited, citing safety concerns. Archbishop Murphy didn’t play from Sept. 16 to Oct. 22.

Once the postseason began, the forfeits ended, but it didn’t make any difference; the Wildcats won their four playoff games by a combined 152 points.

“It did seem like a shorter season,” said Archbishop Murphy lineman Abraham Lucas. “It didn’t exactly feel like two separate seasons, but it was definitely weird. But in the long run, we (accomplished) what we set out to do.”

“(The long layoff) wasn’t a concern,” Johnson said. “We kept practicing and watching film, so we didn’t feel rusty. But it did feel like (two different seasons); it was like a five-week-long bye week. It was tough. It was frustrating. But we overcame that.”