Jason Johnson Tries to Outrun Attention : Prep football: La Habra tailback is the county’s second-leading rusher, but he can’t avoid being tackled by limelight.

If it were up to Jason Johnson, his exploits on the football field for La Habra High School wouldn’t bring him any extra attention. The reserved, 16-year-old junior doesn’t like being singled out for praise--he would rather blend into the team.

But for someone seeking anonymity, Johnson has played it all wrong. This season--his first on the varsity and second in organized football--he has run 122 times for 826 yards, the second-highest total in Orange County. Twice he has gained more than 200 yards in a game, and he is one of the reasons La Habra is 4-1 entering its Freeway League opener against Fullerton tonight.

Johnson is obviously uncomfortable with the scrutiny that has come with being the star tailback. Talking to a reporter this week at the La Habra practice field, he squirmed while teammates joked that “God has an interview.”

How does he handle his sudden fame?

“I don’t really,” Johnson said. “I just go with it, I guess. Sometimes it’s sort of embarrassing, but that’s about it.”

Donnie Anderson, a senior fullback who is often Johnson’s lead blocker, said Johnson is unchanged by success and has never boasted about his abilities. In fact, Anderson said, he has never heard Johnson say anything remotely positive about himself.

“That’s why we gave him that nickname (God), because he’s not like that at all,” Anderson said.

What is he like? By all accounts, he’s a well-adjusted, soft-spoken youth with a strong desire to excel in sports.

“He’s not one to complain,” La Habra Coach Jack Nicholls said. “He’s not a real verbal kind of kid anyway. He just goes out and does his job.”

Said running backs coach Jess Leon: “Teachers say, ‘I can’t believe this kid plays football. He’s such a gol’ darn angel-like kid.’ ”

Even in a football uniform, Johnson, at 5-feet-10 and 165 pounds, doesn’t look like a hard-charging running back. But the football pads hide a body strong enough to be one of the top freshman shotputters in the Freeway League and fast enough to be the leadoff batter for the La Habra varsity baseball team for much of last season.

Johnson’s speed and strength are well-suited for the football field, Nicholls said.

“He accelerates so quickly once he cracks the line,” Nicholls said. “He gets into the secondary really fast. A lot of fast guys can’t get going too quickly, but he just turns it on.”

That was evident on Johnson’s first carry this season--his first varsity carry--which he ran 71 yards for a touchdown. In that game, a 26-0 victory over La Serna, he rushed for 165 yards in 10 carries and scored another touchdown on a 50-yard run. In his next two games, he rushed for 207 yards and two touchdowns in a 26-7 victory over Bolsa Grande and for 234 yards and two touchdowns in a 26-0 victory over Los Altos.

Pretty decent numbers for someone who as recently as August was having trouble seeing holes and was wishing he was back playing defense. Not bad for someone whose previous football experience was as a starting linebacker and second-string fullback for the freshman team.

Because of “a bunch of Ds” in classes at the end of his freshman year, Johnson was academically ineligible for his sophomore football season. He worked to bring his grades up and hit the weight room, often five days a week.

Responding in part to parental pressure, Johnson raised his grade-point average from 1.8 to 2.6, which allowed him to play baseball and participate in spring football practice.

At those practices and when practice started again in the summer, Johnson was a reluctant running back. He concentrated on learning to play safety, his new position on defense, but offense was another story.

“At the beginning, I wasn’t really into playing offense,” Johnson said.

But in the last few weeks before the season, something clicked and Johnson was running through holes instead of running into blockers and he earned the starting position.

And, of course, he’s gracious to those who run interference for him, crediting his blockers after almost every play.

“Every time he gets a good run, he thanks all his blockers,” Anderson said. “He always compliments us. That’s why we like to block for him.”