Burnet safety Darius Johnson is a true team player

JENNIFER FIERRO • STAFF WRITER

BURNET — Receivers who see Burnet High School senior safety Darius Johnson lined up across from them realize two truths.

First, they don’t have enough speed to outrun the Bulldog. And second, they won’t be able to outsmart Johnson either.

“He brings a lot to the table for us on both sides of the ball,” Burnet head coach Kurt Jones said. “He’s one of the smartest players we have, if not the smartest. In our secondary, he’s kind of our QB back there. He makes a lot of calls and makes things happen.”

As a freshman, Johnson played safety, but as a sophomore, he was a receiver where he had about 350 receiving yards. Then in 2014, he went back to safety, though he still lined up with the offense when he was needed and was a kickoff and punt returner. He had 245 all-purpose yards last season.

“And he did that so unselfishly,” Jones said. “During our playoff run, we brought him over to the offense and ran a little more receiver with him. And he ended up the year with 20-some-odd catches. We can move him around to so many different positions, and he just knows what to do because he pays that kind of attention.”

Johnson credits his mother, Jennifer Anderson, for inspiring him.

“She’s my everything,” he said. “Being a single mom, she holds me together, she keeps me where I am, she drives me to be the best I can be. I just love her.”

The senior credits defensive coordinator and secondary coach Kevin Hall for helping him excel and for his honesty with his players about their performances.

“I love him,” Johnson said with a chuckle. “He’s a great coach, he’s fun to be around, he’s exciting. When we’re doing something, he doesn’t hesitate to let us know we’re wrong, but he also doesn’t hesitate to let us know that we’re right. So that really helps us when we’re going through things to memorize and not make the same mistake twice.”

His mother is another reason why Johnson plays basketball, runs track and is strongly considering playing soccer, a sport Burnet Consolidated Independent School District added last year.

He said the key to ensuring his body doesn’t break down is communicating with coaches and trainers. He credits the training staff for his ability to quickly recover.

Jones said Johnson has made the Bulldogs a better team.

“He’s such an important leader to our process,” Jones said. “He’s one of our most valuable players.”

If the Bulldogs accomplish all their goals, Johnson said a factor is how well the players get along and are willing to bring practice at the highest level to bring the best out of one another.

“Everybody loves each other,” he said. “It feels like a family. These are all my brothers. I look forward to going out every day with them.”

Johnson said the Bulldogs still have a big goal in front of them.

“I want to go win a state championship,” he said. “We have everything we need, we have great chemistry, we have depth, we have returning people, we have people who haven’t played, but they know what they’re doing because they pay attention. I fully expect to go play for a state championship.”

jfierro@thepicayune.com