Prep football: Johnson enjoys offensive outburst while ‘Bubba’ shuts down Galt

Hiram Johnson football coach Alex Gomes-Coelho had a message for his team Friday night. Huddled on the Galt High football field, Gomes-Coelho told the Warriors it was going to rain Monday.

“We practice in the rain,” he said. “For my new guys, the only thing we don’t play in is lightning.”

His veterans couldn’t resist chirping in. And wildfire smoke, coach. Earthquakes. Extreme heat.

Gomes-Coelho tried to regain the moment, dramatically talking about practice in hail storms, but the players were all grinning. There was lots to smile about after a 54-27 win over Galt as quarterback Marino Fragata threw for 512 yards and seven touchdowns.

It was a nice win that bumped Johnson’s record to 3-1. But Gomes-Coelho doesn’t get too excited about that. The Warriors aren’t coming for Folsom’s No. 1 spot in the rankings anytime soon. They have a bunch of guys playing football for the first time and it shows.

Coaches barked “watch the ball” on every defensive play Friday, making sure nobody jumped offsides. A Galt player called for a fair catch on a kickoff but was pummeled by Johnson players who didn’t know that was a thing that can happen. And the number of kids playing football is still down a bit off the coronavirus pandemic. Still, it’s hard to not like what you see on the Johnson squad.

“We got a lot of guys new to football, but they have great attitudes,” Gomes-Coelho said. “So they’re a fun, fun lively bunch, as you probably saw throughout the night.”

Great attitudes and some impressive football instincts.

Senior Jhayson Fowler, a basketball player playing varsity football for the first year, shined on both sides of the ball. On offense, four of his eight receptions went for touchdowns. He had 180 yards. On defense, he had a pick-six and a second interception to help Johnson pull away from a feisty Galt team.

Johnson had gaudy offensive numbers across the board. Junior Kirk Brown III had five receptions for 131 yards and two touchdowns; sophomore Hezekiah Johnson was a deep threat with four catches for 146 yards and a touchdown.

Finally. It feels like something of a payoff for Johnson. Gomes-Coelho loves offense. He was a wideout at St. Mary’s. He won’t punt on fourth down. Ever. He has been building toward this offense for years. With Fragata, he finally has a quarterback who can chuck it and receivers who can haul in the passes.

The key is recruiting. Not kids from other schools, but basketball players and athletes who already go to Johnson.

One of those guys is senior Rayquon Young. Everybody – coaches, players and fans – call him Bubba. He didn’t play football his freshman year but assistant coach Blake Kennedy finally convinced the burly 6-foot defender to come out.

“They wanted to keep me out of trouble because I was hanging around with the wrong crowd and they saw that I had potential,” Young said. “And they put me on the field. … It feels good. It makes me feel like I’m a part of something. I can do something with my life.”

The Galt offense felt the difference Friday night. Bubba lived in the Galt backfield for much of the night, shoving offensive linemen out of his way as he shut down the running attack and forced the quarterback to roll out away from him on passing plays.

He’s like a lot of young men on the Johnson roster. They’re better off on the football team than left to their own devices, Gomes-Coelho said. And now guys like Bubba have junior college football coaches hoping he’ll play there next year. American River College says he should go there; a Sacramento City College coach watched Bubba play Friday night.

“I feel honored. Because, like, honestly, I didn’t know I was gonna make it this far. I didn’t know if I was gonna continue playing football,” Young said. “I had challenging moments where I had to choose. I had to choose and I chose football, and for me choosing that, I see myself getting it further in life.”

That’s the kind of thing you’ll see at a city school and not out in the Sierra Foothill League.

“That’s one of our big things. It’s better to be with us than out on the streets,” Gomes-Coelho said. “We get some guys like that. Not every one of them has stayed with us. We’ve had some kids that didn’t like the rigidity of what we do. But most of them do.”

The recruitment plan is working. There are few seniors on offense. The team went 10-1 last year and looks like a heavy favorite to win the Greater Sacramento league. The goal isn’t to knock off Folsom – at least yet. It’s to build a respectable program and maybe move up to a tougher conference one day. The school put in a new artificial turf field in 2019; lights will be installed in the offseason so the Warriors can host home games at night for the first time next year.

“It’s big time,” Gomes-Coelho said. “When I first got here, it was a whole infested field. It was like we got condemned.”

The results on the field show the Warriors have come a long way. And there’s more to come.

This story was originally published September 17, 2022 at 8:16 AM.