June 6, 2008
All in the Johnston family
Mention the term student-athlete and usually either a rolling of the eyes occurs or someone begins laughing. The quickest wits will respond along the lines of &lquot;I thought that had been proven an oxymoron.’ Well, meet Carmel High quarterback Ken Johnston, excellent quarterback on the field and superb student in the classroom.
Ken Johnston is the prototypical ‘student-athlete’
The 6-foot-1, 185 pound Johnston will be entering his senior season come the fall -- this after a bountiful junior year. You want numbers? Try 206 of 344 on passing attempts for 2733 yards in 2007-2008. Johnston tossed 30 touchdowns with but nine picks. He was named the Mission Trail Athletic League Back of the Year. This after a sophomore season of 27 touchdowns, 14 interceptions and 2700 passing yards.
Asked why he selected football as his primary athletic endeavor [he also plays basketball], Johnston replied somewhat tongue in cheek, "I think it’s a genetic family thing. My dad [Craig] was a quarterback in college, my older brother [Pat] is a quarterback and middle brother [Phil] is a linebacker." Each family member was and is affiliated with Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Even mom Patty is a Mustang alumnus. This family bleeds green and white.
About his position on the field, he said, "I don’t want to sound conceited but I feel I was born a leader. My brothers are leaders too."
In describing his best talents, Johnston offered "My escape skills and my ability to roll out and still see down field." As for accuracy, Johnston was successful on over 60% of his passes last season. He offered this particular insight with an observation he provided: "I throw away from defenders more than at receivers" thus reducing potential interceptions. Johnston has also increased his arm strength to where "I can now make throws I couldn’t make before as a sophomore."
Right now, he is focusing on beginning summer workouts -- hopefully the precursor to a league title in 2008-2009. The biggest factor in his eventual signing will be geographical.
"I want to stay around the west coast so California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Idaho will be fine with me." A couple of Ivy League colleges have been in touch but the east coast is not under consideration by Johnston at the moment. He’s been to camps sponsored by San Jose State and also California.
What’s most telling about Johnston -- the player and person -- is when he was asked to describe his most memorable moment as a footballer. He said, "We were playing Robert Louis Stevenson and were down by 21 points with seven minutes remaining. We came back and won by one point but the moment that stands out for me the most is when our safety intercepted the ball at the goal line near the end of the game. We all went crazy." Name the last footballer, no make that any athlete, whose highlight reel excludes himself.
When asked how his friends would describe him, he answered, "A hardworker who is hard on himself, maybe with a touch of goodie two shoes. The latter endearment stems from his buddies giving him a hard time for his excellence in the classroom, although Johnston gives it right back to them. Academically he has generally maintained a 4.0 grade point average throughout high school."
Craig Johnston is the head football coach at Carmel High. Asked if coaching his son at a high profile position is different in any manner, he responded, "It’s not different for me but maybe for others. However, thank goodness he has some talent. Whether Ken’s my son or not, he’s one of the hardest working guys around."
Smart, skilled, earning his accolades, always wanting and working for more -- college coaches have to be rubbing their eyes and asking if indeed it is a mirage they are seeing.