ROXANA — When it comes to offensive football, Roxana junior running back Joey Johnson and his teammates have a very simple and effective philosophy.
“One of our mottos is RTB. Run the ball,” Johnson said with a smile.
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Johnson, a 6-foot, 180-pounder, who also is an outside linebacker on defense, was a part of a very dominant rushing attack along with fellow juniors Wyatt Kirkpatrick and Michael Cherry that helped the Shells to a 31-6 win over Staunton Friday night at Charlie Raich Field, but much of the credit, Johnson said, belongs to the offensive line.
“We work day in and day out,” Johnson said in a post-game interview. “We owe a lot of it to our O-line; they work hard, they open up big holes.”
Johnson had some key plays in Roxana's win over Staunton on Friday night at Charlie Raich Field, in what Pat Keith described as their most complete game so far of the season. He scored from 16 yards out in the first quarter on Friday night to get the Shells on the board. In the second half, he scored again on a one-yard run and the two-point conversion was good, giving the Shells a 22-0 lead.
The Shells’ rushing game is their bread and butter. Johnson again is quick to praise his offensive line for opening up the holes that allow the backs the space to take off.
“We’re not a huge passing team, and a lot of teams in our conference know that,” Johnson said. “They try to open up and blitz on our gaps, but our O-line puts it in hard, and we’re able to push it through.”
Roxana finishes with a big rivalry game Friday night at home against Southwestern and the team hopes to win and conclude the season with a 3-6 mark. Johnson and the other returnees will have their eyes set for the future.Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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