Southeast High counting on Teriq Houston to continue playing Ironman football during playoffs

BRADENTON -- Southeast has been playing next man up football for almost the entire season.

Heading into their first playoff game in three years, the Seminoles have lost players due to injuries and other factors. Now, they might have to go into their biggest game of the year without their best offensive player, Kevin Johnson.

The senior leads Manatee County with 1,432 rushing yards and has been a one-man offense for most of the season. But Southeast head coach John Warren said he is unsure about Johnson's status for much of this week, finally upgrading it Wednesday to "probable" for the Noles' Class 5A-Region 3 quarterfinal Friday night at Fort Myers Dunbar. Johnson suffered a left shoulder injury that forced him out of last week's loss to Manatee.

If Johnson is compromised or unable to go, one player expected to ease the stress on the Noles is sophomore Teriq Houston. The 5-foot-10, 210-pound sophomore is expected to be on the field for every snap, playing on the defensive line while taking offensive reps at tailback.

"Teriq is playing ironman football now," Warren said. "He is going to have to play both ways and we can't wear him out. When we need a couple of tough yards we hand him the ball and let him put his head down. He runs hard and is a load coming through the line."

Houston started the season at linebacker, but when he moved into the running back slot the coaches also decided it would be better to move him to the defensive line where he wouldn't have to run as much. He is second on the team with 18 tackles for loss and has 3.5 sacks.

"Teriq has found a nice home in the trenches. He is very athletic and doesn't wear out as he would at linebacker where he is running around and making tackles all over the field," Warren said.

Houston said he has no favorite position, though he prefers defensive tackle over defensive end.

If Johnson can't play, Houston can expect a lot of carries and to continue to play a huge role on defense.

"I am just willing to do anything to help the team. I am not trying to be Kevin," Houston said. "I am more of a big guy so basically I run through people. Kevin sometimes runs through people, but mostly on the outside. I am more like a downhill person."

When Houston was moved to the line, junior Jon Locke emerged at linebacker. He leads the team with 101 tackles and has 12 tackles for loss and three interceptions.

"I thank the the defensive line entirely," Locke said. "I know they are going to take on the blocks and I am going to run to through the holes and make tackles. I rely on them and trust that they are going to do their assignments."

A big key to the Noles defense has been the play of Dequan Williams. The junior defensive end/outside linebacker leads the team with 7.5 sacks and 22.5 tackles for loss.

"He is the energizer bunny. His battery never runs dead," Southeast defensive line coach Brian McKnight said. "We can teach technique and teach schemes, but we can't teach someone to keep their motor running and his motor never stops. He will do six things wrong and then follow it up with six things amazingly right."

McKnight, the former longtime Southeast defensive coordinator, looks at Williams as one of those old-school football players whose value to a team is immeasurable.

"Dequan is a dying breed. We need more of him," McKnight said. "You can point out Dequan to the other players and remind them how he keeps going. He has had two ACL surgeries and an exposed fracture on his hand and (he) keeps playing."

Johnson has also had to play quarterback this year after the season-opening starter quit the team. It cut into his effectiveness as a runner and put a burden on the offense, but as they have done all year, the Noles responded with a lot of players doubling up on their roles.

"It puts more pressure on our defense, but that's the way it's been all year," Warren said. "We just want to play. This is a monumental game for us. We haven't been to the playoffs since 2012 and you never know where it's going to take you. Most of our guys never played one snap in a playoff game. We are aiming for the stars and hopefully we'll land on the moon."

This story was originally published November 11, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Southeast High counting on Teriq Houston to continue playing Ironman football during playoffs ."