Wheeling's Johnson grows into lead role

Chris Johnson went from a football novice to varsity starter in a hurry.

In only his second year of organized football, Johnson found himself starting on the offensive line of a playoff team at Wheeling.

"Coming in freshman year, I didn't know anything about football," said the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Johnson. "Then I moved up to the sophomores and I started to learn and learn."

Last year saw his football education grow as he also became the Wildcats' starting middle linebacker. Now he's ready to roll in their 3-5-3 defensive alignment.

"I'm a lot more comfortable this year," Johnson said. "Last year was iffy. As a junior you still have all these guys (seniors) you look up to.

"This year they're looking up to me. It's a lot better this year and I know our defense very well from last year."

That's become evident to head coach and defensive coordinator Dave Dunbar.

"He's starting to feel comfortable with everything he's doing," Dunbar said. "He looked at his mistakes in the offseason and corrected his mistakes.

"He understands exactly what we should be doing. He's a coach on the field."

Johnson has experienced the highs and lows from a team standpoint by going from the playoffs two years ago to losing the last seven games last season.

"We're really improving," Johnson said. "We're not at all satisfied with last year and we hope to come back this year."

This isn't the only season where Johnson has high hopes. He finished sixth in the state in Class 3A wrestling at 189 pounds with a 42-4 record.

Johnson figures he'll wrestle in college and the honor roll student plans to study environmental or civil engineering.

"I'm really excited," Johnson said. "It's my last hurrah and I expect to do really well in all athletics."