The expectations swirling around Ervin Johnson were neither high nor low.
Rather, they were non-existent.
It's hard to forecast a player's production when he has less than 20 practices and just one spring game on his résumé, and he hasn't seen a varsity snap in two years.
So Manatee coach Joe Kinnan has marveled at what Johnson, a senior linebacker, has been able to do opposing offenses and what he has done for the Hurricanes' new-look defense.
"He has put up some numbers," Kinnan said, "that are unreal."
How about 41 tackles? Eight sacks? Three forced fumbles against Class 6A Sarasota last week?
That's been Johnson's story this season, and Manatee hopes the senior furthers the tale tonight when the Hurricanes (4-1, 1-0 Class 5A-District 11) host Punta Gorda Charlotte (4-0, 1-0) in a key district matchup.
No one knows what Johnson will do against a Tarpon offense averaging roughly 400 yards and 38 points a game. Then again, no one knew what Johnson would do entering the 2008 season, especially since he hadn't played since 2006, when he was a defensive back at Bayshore.
Johnson transferred to Manatee last year and was academically ineligible, preventing coaches and players from seeing him until spring practices began in May. As they have in the past, the Hurricanes played Lakeland - losers of two games in the past five years - in their spring game, which doesn't pass for garden-variety competition.
"To tell you the truth, we didn't know too much about him," said Manatee quarterback Brion Carnes. "But he has really stepped up and helped the team. I'm grateful he's on the team."
One reason being Carnes doesn't have to spend his Friday nights trying to elude Johnson's grasp. Instead, he gets to face off against him daily during practice, which has its advantages.
"He's so quick and so fast," Carnes said. "He's prepared me for Charlotte, because they have a defensive end who's a lot like him. That's what I love about Ervin - he has helped make me better."
Johnson's first priority, however, was to make himself better - especially in the classroom. Reduced to the role of spectator while Manatee won 10 games and made the Class 5A playoffs for the third straight time last year, Johnson took online courses to get his grades up.
"It was tough," Johnson said of not being able to play. "I just tried to keep my mind right and stay focused, and get my grades back so I could play the next year."
Then, knowing the Hurricanes were on the lookout for able-bodied linemen and linebackers to replace their entire defensive front seven, and that a starting job was a possibility, Johnson hit the gym and added roughly 10 to 15 pounds of muscle to his 6-foot frame.
"They were like, 'We need some linebackers,' " Johnson said. "I knew I had a chance to start. Coaches were talking to me while we were out there doing 7-on-7 drills, so I knew I was going to be the guy.
"I worked hard."
After getting a crash course against the Dreadnaughts - "I was taking bad angles," Johnson said - the senior found his footing against Bayshore in Week 1, when he tormented his former team with six tackles and a sack.
He added 12 more tackles the following week against Booker and put his stamp on the Manatee-Southeast rivalry with 10 more tackles and two sacks.
"He's quick and he's fast," Kinnan said. "(Linebackers) Coach (Jim) Phelan has done a fantastic job with him, harnessing his athletic ability."
Johnson knows it will only get harder. Players who put up these sorts of numbers don't stay secrets for long, and the Tarpons - who return 10 of 11 starters on offense and haven't played a close game yet - may pose the greatest challenge of all up to this point.
But challenges are nothing new to Johnson, who has risen from obscurity to become one of Manatee's most valuable players.
"I just go hard on every play," he said. "I just don't give up - that's how I make most of my plays."
| Dating | Comics and Games | Local Shopping |
| Find a Car | Apartments | Local Jobs |
E-Mail
Print
@Nyx.CommentBody@