ALLENDALE – He’s always been Nate. He’s always been a dual threat quarterback. He’s never been a fan of losing.
Northern Highlands junior Nate Johnson will lead the Highlanders against Ramapo in the co-Main Event Friday night in North Jersey (Rutherford/Westwood is the other). It will be the third straight year the two schools have met for the sectional title, and both of those meetings were unofficial Games of the Year.
Johnson only played a small role. He didn’t play in either game. He was injured last year and JR Walley filled in.
But Johnson is ready to start this one. Ramapo stunned Johnson and Northern Highlands, 34-33, in the regular season, coming back from 21-0 down. In an emotional rivalry – maybe North Jersey’s best public-school rivalry – the Green Raiders have the edge right now. Maybe.
“They were celebrating on our field pretty good after the game and that left a bad taste,” Johnson said Monday night. “We will get back at them.”
Ramapo and its star quarterback Landon DePrima will have plenty to say about that. It’s two teams with similar styles, athletes and approaches. All eyes will be on both quarterbacks. Johnson is a poised competitor who has thrown for 1,895 yards and run for 710 (both team highs). Stop him and you stop Highlands, but that’s way easier said than done.
“He’s always been a good runner,” Northern Highlands coach Dave Cord said. “His velocity and accuracy are miles past where they were last year. His decision making, ability to understand the offense and athleticism were always what made him special. This year, he added accuracy and velocity to his game.”
The 16-year-old Allendale native grew up a quarterback. He said he started playing the position in second grade, kind of by default, but maybe it was his destiny. His father was also a quarterback and played at Bucknell.
Nate’s older brother Charlie was a tough lineman for the Highlanders and now plays at Union College. Nate considered playing somewhere else for high school, but followed the family line.
“My brother had thought about it, maybe if he went somewhere else, I might have to,” Nate said. “But when he came here, I was coming here.”
Last year was supposed to be Johnson’s time in the spotlight, taking over for Highlanders star Enzo Arjona. But injuries caused him to miss time.
In came current Highlanders senior Walley to the rescue. Walley and Johnson both played late in the playoffs as the Highlanders reached the Group 4 final, losing to Millville.
Cord called it a quarterback competition in the preseason, but the job has been primarily Johnson’s even though they still split reps evenly in practice.
“Completely 50/50,” Cord confirmed. “We spend a lot of time with our twos in general. The philosophy of our program is that we don’t take a step back when someone gets hurt. We have lost three receivers for the year alone. Also to get young guys ready for the future… not every position or player gets 50/50 but JR does because of how good he is.”
“We have a great relationship,” Johnson said of Walley. “He got a ton of playing time last year, and fortunately for me this year, I haven’t gone down at all. We both push each other a lot in practice.”
Johnson said he likes the ability at quarterback to be the one in command, in control. He admires two-way quarterbacks like Josh Allen and Dak Prescott who are threats both running and throwing.
This summer, Johnson plans on working more with his QB coach. Even though Cord praised his throwing velocity, it is the first thing Johnson says when asked what he wants to improve on. He’d like to play in college if given a chance, but the process is still early.
For now, Johnson has one goal: beating Ramapo. He said the mindset has to be serious in practice all week to prepare. He’s watched the film of the regular-season game several times. He doesn’t think the Highlanders need to change much, just execute better.
“It’s probably the biggest game of my life that I have ever played in so far,” Johnson said. “We lost to them previous and you want to get back at them.”