By NICHOLAS SULLIVAN
Some seasons Adairsville head football coach Eric Bishop knows he will have to rely on one major ballcarrier. 2020 shouldn’t be one of those years.
Not only does Bishop have a pair of running backs he expects to split time almost evenly but also both return after a full season of varsity experience. Junior Eli Agnew and senior Ja’Maury Johnson each return after totaling roughly 500 yards apiece on the ground last season.
“The biggest thing is the experience they bring back to the table,” Bishop said. “Both played a considerable number of snaps every game last year. They combined for over 1,000 yards rushing between the two of them. Typically with our offense, when that happens with your T-back position — be it one person or a platoon-type situation — it usually means we are having or will have a pretty good year.”
However, things won’t be exactly like last fall for Agnew and Johnson.
After being asked to play almost exclusively on offense in 2019, the duo will be asked to step up to help out a depleted secondary. Agnew said he has been rotating in at free safety and that Johnson is expected to start at cornerback.
“We’ll both have to play both sides,” Agnew said. “Me and [Johnson] swapping out will give us both breathers for either side of the ball, and it will keep the defense on their toes.”
Bishop likewise believes the situation should play out just fine.
“I think the difference between last year and this year is that those two guys will be expected to contribute on the defensive side of the ball, too,” he said. “That too makes it great. If they both have to play defense for us, they can swap series on offense and get their rest on offense if it comes to that.”
As with any good running back duo, Agnew and Johnson aren’t carbon copies of each other. They will rarely see the field at the same time, although Bishop said the team has inserted some goal-line packages specifically for times when both can be in.
Agnew, at 5-foot-9 and 190 pounds, is more of a downhill runner who typically makes defenders pay for stepping in front of him. Listed at 5-foot-10, 170 pounds, Johnson has a little more lateral quickness to his game.
Bishop said both have continued to build on their strengths.
“Eli seems to have come back a lot stronger,” the eighth-year head coach said. “He’s a tough runner, gaining the extra yards after contact and that sort of thing. It seems like with Ja’Maury, his vision and instincts have gotten so much better after a year of being in this offense at the varsity level. That’s where the two really seem to have improved in their own respects.”
Just as their rushing styles differ, so too do their personalities.
“They are two opposite ends of the spectrum,” Bishop said. “Eli is kind of quiet, all business, very critical of himself and expects perfection every snap. Ja’Maury is kind of the more loose personality, always smiling, always cutting up. His personality doesn’t get in the way of his work ethic, but not as much seems to bother him.”
Perhaps the most important part of their dynamic is the bond the two backs share. Instead of viewing each other as adversaries, the pair have learned that helping each other benefits both of them.
“We bring each other up all the time,” Johnson said. “If I mess up or he sees something wrong, he makes sure I know what I did wrong and how to get better. I do the same thing. Whatever’s going to get him better, I’m going to let him know. Whatever’s going to get me better, he’s going to let me know.”
Said Bishop, “They know they’re not competing for a position, a starting role or anything like that. They do feed off each and compete against each other, which will ultimately make them better. That competition will force them to make theirselves better every day. They both do a good job of that.”
Agnew pointed out that the friendly competition between the two even serves to improve the defensive players they go up against in practice.
“From us pushing each other, we just get better and better from it,” Agnew said. “The defense will too, because we will give them the best look at what an actual running back will do in a game.”
After a somewhat slow start to last year, Agnew and Johnson will almost certainly be even better this season, because the Adairsville offense — as a whole — will be better. The unit returns quarterback Conner Crunkelton, four of five starting offensive linemen and slotback Courtney Slocum in addition to Agnew and Johnson.
The continuity could be massive following such a disjointed offseason. It’s part of the reason Johnson has high expectations entering his senior year.
“I’m very confident with the work everybody put in this summer,” he said. “I’m glad we can get back on the field. I think we’re really going to be a great team this year.”
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