By Duane Cochran
FAIRMONT — Wendell Johnson has had plenty of time to think about his senior season.
Fairmont State’s talented 6-foot, 185-pound senior tailback knows he’s 899 yards away from becoming the school’s all-time leading rusher, 648 yards away from becoming one of the Top 10 rushers in West Virginia Conference history and 1,139 yards away from finishing his career as a Top 5 rusher in the league.
He’s done the math, not because he’s self-centered or selfish, but more so as a reminder and motivator.
He’s also well aware of the fact that FSU is 13-17 during his previous three years as a starter and it’s these numbers he’s concerned with the most.
“It’s my last year here and I just want to win and have fun with the team,” said Johnson. “I’ve always figured if we can do that as a team then the individual stuff will take care of itself.
“We have our work cutout for us. We have a lot of proving to do to ourselves and to others. “
Johnson and the Falcons learned some valuable lessons last fall. After both led the conference in rushing in 2004, Johnson slipped to third last season and FSU, as a team, tumbled to fourth.
“When you accomplish something good like we did two years ago you learn it puts a big target on your back for other teams the next year,” said Johnson, who ran for a league-high 1,240 yards in 2004, but was held to 904 yards and a mere three touchdowns last season. “Now everybody knows how it feels to have that target on their backs so there’s no excuses. It’s up to us to adjust to it, play our game and be prepared for what we’re going to face.”
One of the impressive things about Johnson’s 2,552 career rushing yards and the fact that he’s poised to break Don Overton’s school rushing record of 3,450 yards which has stood for 16 years is that during his previous three seasons in uniform for the Falcons, the fifth-year senior had split time with Jo Jo Parker in the backfield.
Parker, who would also be a fifth-year senior for FSU this fall, is academically ineligible. He ran for 1,828 yards the past three seasons.
With Parker gone, more of the load falls on Johnson’s shoulders. That’s quite all right with the soft-spoken youngster from south Florida because he’s broadened them by spending all summer working with some University of Miami football players and their strength coach.
“I’m ready,” said Johnson. “I put my heart and everything into this summer in terms of working out and getting prepared. Working with some big-time guys was a great experience. They push you hard. I had a nonstop schedule of running and lifting, but that’s the price you have to pay to be successful.
“If the coaching staff asks me to carry the ball 50 times in a game I’ll do it. If they want me to carry it 100 times I’ll do it. I just want to do whatever I can this year to help this team win. It’s all I care about — winning and having fun with this team. I just hope the Good Lord blesses me, keeps me healthy this fall and allows me and this team to have an opportunity to succeed.”
Some keys to Johnson’s individual success will be improved play from his offensive line, consistent play at the quarterback position and a couple of guys by the names of Seth Amos and Ben Gum, who will spell him in the backfield.
“(Quarterback) John Rahl is something special, but he also has a lot to prove this fall,” said Johnson. “Watching him play the final four games for us last year and play in spring ball I think he’ll be all right. He has the best arm I’ve ever seen here.
“Seth Amos worries me because he’s out of the ordinary. He’s the fastest person on the team and anytime he touches the ball you never know what’s going to happen. When they take me out of the game and put him in, I’m up there on the sidelines watching because he’s unbelievable. He can go for five yards or six points in a hurry. He’s exciting and can break one at any time.
“Then there’s Ben Gum, who is a load. He switched over in the spring and showed the potential to carry four or five tacklers with him on any given run. He’s a hard guy to tackle and I think he’s going to do some special things for us. I like our backfield right now.”
Johnson and FSU will find out exactly where they stand as a team in a matter of weeks. The Falcons open the 2006 season against powerful California (Pa.) University on Thursday, Aug. 31 at 7:30 p.m. at Adamson Stadium.
The Vulcans are picked to repeat as PSAC West champions and seriously compete for an NCAA Division II playoff spot. Cal is also nationally-ranked in two preseason publications
“We’ll know what kind of team we have and where we stand amongst everyone in the East when we play our opener,” said Johnson. “We just need to everyone for us to play hard on every single down and we’ll see what happens with the outcome.”
Cal, which finished 8-2 last fall, dominated Fairmont State 42-6 in the 2005 season opener.
