Desman Johnson Jr. the 6-2, 240-pound junior quarterback for Penn Wood, hopes to take the No. 1 seed Patriots on a long playoff run. Photo by Al Thompson

With just under two minutes left in the first half of the Penn Wood-Glen Mills game at Kerr Field in Yeadon, Desman Johnson Jr. the 6-2, 240-pound junior quarterback for the Patriots, takes the snap and goes back to pass from his own 36-yard line.

Facing some pressure, Johnson steps back further, and on his back heel, flicks the ball with his wrist effortlessly to senior receiver Edmund Dennis who catches the ball in stride and sprints to the end zone for a 64-yard touchdown giving Penn Wood a 36-8 lead that would effectively end the game before halftime.

It was one of many remarkable plays by Johnson and his speedy teammates who are looking to make some noise in the 5A District one playoffs and hopefully beyond.

“In 5A, I really believe we have the most athletes,” Johnson said during a recent practice on the campus of Penn Wood High School. “Obviously other teams have good athletes too, but I think we’ve got the most athletes and speed than everybody else in 5A quite honestly.”

The core player in group of athletes is Johnson. The Patriots (9-1) will go as far as he takes them.
According to stats on MaxpPreps.com Johnson is 122 of 197 for 2184, 25 touchdowns and six interception after 10 games. He has rushed 96 times for 268 yards and 12 more touchdowns.

His favorite targets are all seniors. Kennedy Poles leads the way with 46 catches for 1071 yards and 11 trips to the end zone. Brian Parker Jr (Sr) has 22 catches for 305 yards and three TDs, Tayshon Harmon has come up with 17 catches for 181 yards and five touchdowns (8 games) and Dennis has grabbed 10 catches for 255 yards and three scores.

“If I put the ball up in Kennedy’s area,” Johnson said of his top receiver. “I have faith he’s going to come down with it in the biggest moment.”

Michael Dargan, Jr. leads the team in rushing with 336 yards on 66 carries and two touchdowns.
Johnson said learning the in’s and outs of playing quarterback and leading a team t success has been a process.

“My coaches have been great,” Johnson said. “My freshman year I got into some varsity games. I was nowhere near as good as I am now…reading coverages, seeing the field, my coaches are the reason I can do it now.”

Penn Wood Head Coach Ato Troop talked about his still-young quarterback and the progress he has made.

“He started some games as a freshman, took over last year,” Troop said. “Obviously he’s been the man all year this year. Just realizing that, there’s a lot of pressure on him. We ask him to do a lot, make a lot of decisions both at the line and after the snap of ball. He realizes that we’ll praise him when he good things and when he does bad things, we’ll hold him accountable.”

Johnson said learning to be mentally consistent is important. He has learned not to listen too much to complaints or compliments.

“The hardest thing I’ve leaned is how to take the pressure,” Johnson said. “When you are the quarterback, you are in the center. If there’s a bad game, you get all the blame. If it’s a good game, you get all the glory. You just have to be able to put up with that.”

Johnson said he very much likes the pressure that comes with being the leader.

“If you don’t like it (pressure); you probably won’t be good at it,” Johnson said. “If you don’t like making plays in big pressure moments and being the first person everybody comes to, if you don’t like it, you probably won’t be good at it.”

Johnson says he likes several NFL quarterbacks, each one for a different reason. It’s as if he is taking something he likes from each of them.

“My favorite quarterback is Cam (Newton),” said Johnson, referring to the veteran signal-caller for the Carolina Panthers. “But when it comes to studying, I look at quarterbacks like Carson Wentz, (Kansas City) Patrick Mahomes and Big Ben (Steelers Roethlisberger) because they’re all big quarterbacks.”

It must be noted Johnson also gave a nod to Tampa Bay quarterback Jameis Winston.

He says he watches all these quarterbacks and was able to what they all have in common.

“It starts with you,” Johnson repeated about the job. “You’ve got to get the ball down-field, you have to make the right decisions. It’s all on you. You’ve got to be able to handle the pressure.”

Troop talked about the Patriots offense and Johnson’s role.

“We run a spread offense,” the coach said. “And we ask a lot of our quarterback to throw the ball quick game and vertically. He has an absolute cannon of an arm. He can make every throw. I’ve seen him throw the ball 70 yards in the air as a sophomore. He’s blessed. He has a lot of physical ability and he’s also a student of the game and it’s starting to show. “

Troop said interest from colleges has been light. “That will come,” he said.

To make playoff a run, the Patriots will need solid play in the trenches.

Johnson said his offensive line started the season with four new players, center Keivon Stevens was the only returning senior. As the season has unfolded he says the unit has jelled at the right time.

“We lost four seniors,” Johnson said. “ Most of these guys didn’t play last year but they’ve gotten way better.”

Johnson also praised the Patriots defense. “The last few games they’ve been holding teams to under 21 point and that’s good,” he said. “They’re stopping them from scoring and getting us the ball back so we can score.”

The playoff journey started last week against Academy Park. The Patriots knocked off the Knights 40-20 to win the DelVal title and the No. 1 seed in the 5 A District one playoffs. Penn Wood faces No. 16 Kennett (4-6) at home at Kerr Field, November 2 (7 PM).

Last year Penn Wood lost to Perkiomen Valley 38-30 in the first round of the District one playoffs. This Johnson has higher goals.

“States,” Johnson said. “I know that’s the big goal, but that’s our goal. They are all good team but we feel we can play with all of them.” *

2018 Southeastern PA Top 20 Football teams as of October 31, 2018
1. Coatesville (10-0)
2. St. Joe’s Prep (7-0)
3. Malvern Prep (9-0)
4. Imhotep Charter (6-2)
5. North Penn (10-0)
6. Garnet Valley (10-0)
7. Downingtown West (9-1)
8. Penn Wood (9-1)
9. Harry S. Truman (9-1)
10. Pottsgrove (9-1)
11. Radnor (8-2)
12. Conwell-Egan (10-0)
13. Archbishop Wood (6-3)
14. Neshaminy (7-3)
15. West Catholic (8-2)
16. Academy Park (8-2)
17. William Penn Charter (6-2)
18. Spring-Ford (8-2)
19. Upper Dublin (8-1)
20. Downingtown East (8-2)
20. (tie) Bayard Rustin (7-2)

Best of the rest (alphabetically): Archbishop Ryan (7-3), Bishop McDevitt (7-3), Cardinal O’Hara (6-3), Council Rock South (6-4), Episcopal Academy (6-2), George Washington (7-3), Haverford High School (8-2), Marple Newtown (5-5), Martin Luther King (8-2), Northeast (5-3), Pennsbury (5-5), Perkiomen Valley (8-2), Pope John Paul II (8-2), Ridley (6-4), Springfield (7-3), Strath Haven (5-5), Upper Darby (7-3).

MORE PA PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
Catholic League Class AAAAAA…Friday’s Semi-finals schedule
No. 4 Roman Catholic vs. No. 1 St. Joseph’s Prep, at Widener, 8 p.m.
No. 3 Father Judge vs. No. 2 La Salle, at Plymouth Whitemarsh, 7 p.m.
Catholic League Class AAAA Semi-finals Friday
No. 3 Bonner-Prendergast vs. No. 2 Archbishop Carroll, at Cardinal O’Hara, 7 p.m.
Public League Class AAAAAA Semi-finals Friday
Southern at Central, 3 p.m., Lincoln at Northeast, 6:30 pm.
Public League Class AAAAA sem-finals Friday
Martin Luther King vs. Frankford, at Northeast, 3 p.m
Mastery North at Simon Gratz, 6:30 p.m.
Public League Class AAAA Semi-finals Friday
Boys’ Latin at Imhotep Charter, Northwest Philly Super Site, 6:30 p.m

Follow Al Thompson on Twitter @thompsoniii