Dillon Johnson is training his best every day in preparation to play football at Mississippi State University this fall. It is all he can control.
Now that school is out because of the caronavirus pandemic, Johnson, a senior at St. Joseph Catholic School, works out every morning for a couple hours each day with a few friends. He spends his evenings doing schoolwork online.
He pays attention to the news, he said, and is hoping that the current caronavirus situation will end soon.
Johnson was scheduled to move to Starkville on May 27 to prepare himself for the summer semester, but his move has been postponed.
Johnson said he has read about all the doom and gloom possible scenarios about what will happen to college football next season — from games being played without fans to the season being canceled outright — but he tries not to worry about it.
“I am just trying to stay positive and control what I can control. I know that if I want to fulfill my dream of making it in college football, I have to get in the best shape I can possibly be,” Johnson said Friday morning after receiving his trophy for being named the Delta Democrat-Times Boys Basketball Player of the Year.
Johnson said he follows a workout program given to him by his future coaches at Mississippi State. With more time on his hands now, however, he is doing even more training than his future college coaches had asked him to do.
“I work out for three hours in the morning, and then take a nap in the afternoon,” he said. “Then I am back out doing field work where we do drills like running around cones and things.”
Johnson played quarterback for St. Joseph the last two seasons and has helped lead the Fighting Irish to three straight state championships.
Johnson, along with his teammate Trey Benson, were named the Delta Democrat-Times Football Players of the Year.
Johnson also was the captain of the St. Joe boys basketball team that won its first ever state championship in February.
Johnson finished last season with 1,665 yards rushing and 24 touchdowns (13.9 yards per carry). Benson, who has signed with the University of Oregon, ended his season with 1,783 yards rushing and 28 total touchdowns (16.2 yards per carry).
In the state championship victory over Indianola Academy, Johnson finished with 166 yards rushing and two touchdowns, while Benson finished with 111 yards rushing and three touchdowns. The two Fighting Irish running backs, along with teammates like quarterback Mekhi Norris (127 yards rushing and two touchdowns), were so overwhelmingly dominant, in fact, that most of the second half of the state title game was played with a continuous clock to help end the game sooner.
