Wood, Johnson, Mays are each chasing career 3,000-yard mark

It will happen this season. Probably in his first game, maybe even on his first carry, but talented senior running back Joey Wood will top the 3,000-yard mark in his high school career for the Los Gatos Wildcats.

The thing is, though, he won’t be alone.

Wood is one of three premier area running backs entering the 2014 season with rather gaudy career rushing totals. Seniors Kirk Johnson at Valley Christian and Hakeem Mays at Willow Glen also both have that 3,000-yard mark dead ahead on their radar screens.

Of course, all speculation goes with the caveat “barring injuries,” but each of the three blue-chippers have run for more than 2,500 yards in their first two varsity seasons and wear the spotlight on their backs as they run into the ’14 campaign.

No knock on Wood

Wood comes into the season with the best shot at 3,000 yards, since he’s only a 21-yard run away and he had one or more of those in every game but one last season.

The hard-running Wildcat began his varsity career with a 1,015-yard season as a sophomore, and backed that up with 1,964 yards last fall to push his career total to 2,979.

“From a physical standpoint, he’s very impressive,” said Los Gatos coach Mark Krail of his top back. “He’s got a great motor, and he’s looked very good in the first couple of weeks of practice.”

Wood went over 100 yards in 11 of 13 games as he helped lead the Wildcats to a Central Coast Section Division II championship last year. His total included a 313-yard night in a CCS playoff win over North Salinas and two trips over the 220-yard mark–201 against rival Saratoga and 213 against Menlo-Atherton in the playoffs.

Only twice was he under the century mark, in a lopsided win over Santa Clara where he saw limited playing time and in the season opener against powerhouse Archbishop Mitty when he was held to 70 yards.

Ironically, it will be in this year’s season opener against those same Monarchs when Wood will try to get his career total over the 3,000-yard plateau.

“He has good speed, but he’s more of a power guy,” said Krail of Wood. “Very seldom is one guy going to come up and take him down. He’s going to break a lot of tackles.”

“I just know that when he’s rolling, our offense is a lot better,” added the coach. “Defenses have to play eight or nine guys in the box, and that opens up a lot of other things for us.”

In addition to his impressive rushing totals, Wood has a nose for the goal line, running for 41 touchdowns in his first two seasons with the Cats.

Wood was named the Outstanding Running Back in the De Anza Division of the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League last fall and ended up on the all-Mercury News first team offense.

Johnson closing in

Unlike Wood, Valley’s Johnson likely won’t reach 3,000 yards in the first game of the season when the Warriors open up against Pioneer, but don’t bet against him. The senior speedster is just 303 yards shy of the mark heading into the 2104 season.

Johnson started his varsity career in impressive fashion, racing for 1,469 yards as a sophomore. He answered that with 1,228 yards in a junior year cut short by an injury. He topped 100 yards in six of the seven games he played and crossed the 200-yard mark three times–with a high of 253 in a win over St. Francis. In was late in that game against the Lancers, though, when he suffered a shoulder injury stretching out at the end of a long run.

Despite the injury, Johnson–who averaged 204 yards a game last year–was still selected as the co-Junior of the Year in the West Catholic Athletic League along with Serra’s Kava Cassidy. Both Johnson and Cassidy were picked to the all-Mercury News second team.

Johnson led the Warriors to a CCS D-III title in 2012 and was named the Sophomore of the Year in the WCAL.

“We’ve had some pretty good backs here, but he’s definitely up there with the best,” said Valley Christian coach Mike Machado of Johnson. “He’s got the speed and power element; he can break tackles as well as anyone we’ve ever had.”

In addition to breaking tackles, though, he can also break away from tacklers, said Machado. He didn’t run track last spring because of the injury he sustained during the football season, but Machado says that Johnson is probably “the fastest guy in CCS.”

“He’s been recruited by Texas, USC and most other teams in the top 25,” said the coach, “and they all think he’s pretty good.”

The University of Texas appears to be the recruitment winner. Earlier this year, Johnson, along with his younger brother Collin, a junior wide receiver at Valley, committed to the Longhorns. They will follow in the footsteps of their father, Johnnie, who was a consensus All-American defensive back at Texas in 1978 and ’79.

But before Kirk Johnson becomes a Longhorn, he’s hoping to have a very successful–and injury-free–senior season for the Warriors. And other than injury, all that could potentially hold back Johnson this season is not necessarily opposing defenses, but rather his own team.

Running alongside the talented senior is the equally talented Tre’ McCloud. When Johnson went down with the injury last fall, Valley didn’t miss a beat thanks to McCloud, who stepped in and raced for 710 yards and 11 touchdowns. So this year the two will have to share the football–a good problem to have for coach Mike Machado.

A Mays-ing Ram

There’s no question that Willow Glen’s Mays is among the fastest runners in CCS; he proved that during the 2014 track season when his 10.99 in the 100-meter dash ranked among the top eight times in the section.

But as good as he is on the track, he’s even better on the football field, and his numbers on the gridiron prove that, too.

Mays had a sensational junior season, running for 2,129 yards and 25 touchdowns–and that was in just 11 games since he missed one Friday night and Willow Glen only went two games deep in the CCS playoffs.

He was held under 100 yards once–when Oak Grove stopped him at 93 in a 24-21 win over the Rams–and four times he went well over 200, the high-water mark an amazing 368-yard night in a tough 28-27 loss to Piedmont Hills.

Despite those impressive numbers, he was left off of the all-Mercury News first team offense that was rich with talented running backs. But the Merc didn’t slight the talented Mays, who was named as the Junior of the Year in the Mt. Hamilton Division of the Blossom Valley Athletic League–instead he earned a spot on that list as a first team defensive back.

“Hakeem is a special athlete, and he’s done some really great things on both sides of the ball for us,” said Willow Glen coach Oscar Caballero. “We look forward to watching his leadership and hard work continue to shine through his senior season.”

Mays gave an indication of the great things to come when, as a sophomore, he raced for 446 yards and three TDs in a quarterback-dominated offense for the Rams. The Willow Glen speedster was named to the Mt. Hamilton Division’s all-league first team offense for his efforts.

Last year, though, Mays was the main attraction in the Willow Glen offensive attack, and he figures to be again this season when he zeroes in on topping the 3,000-yard mark for his career, along with Wood and Johnson.

It’s September, and Joey Wood, Kirk Johnson and Hakeem Mays are off and running again.