Former Quabbin football star Hector Johnson has thrived on road to success at Endicott

Hector Johnson was born in Liberia, and lived on his beloved grandmother’s farm in the West African coastal country until he was almost 10 years old, when he immigrated to Worcester with her and his two siblings.

Johnson’s mother left Liberia for the United States nine years earlier, to establish a career as a certified nursing assistant, save money, secure housing and provide for her children.

“It was a hard thing for her,” Johnson said, “but she knew it would pay off in the long run.”

The family initially made their new home off Grafton Street. Johnson attended Lake View School and Worcester East Middle, and spent two years at Doherty High, before his family relocated to Barre.

Johnson excelled in academics, football and track and field at Quabbin Regional.

“I was able to lock in for the rest of my high school career and really get better at everything I needed to get better at,” said Johnson, who credits Quabbin strength and conditioning coach Nick Adams for a lot of his athletic success. “At Quabbin, I really started to take football serious.”

Now a sophomore at Endicott College, Johnson continues to shine as a starting defensive lineman and dean’s list finance student.

“Everything has been going really well for me,” Johnson said. “I’m very grateful for that.”

In Week 2 at WPI, Johnson had a career day with six tackles, four sacks and a blocked field goal.

The 6-foot-1, 225-pound Johnson leads his team and ranks in the top five nationally with six sacks over the undefeated Gulls’ first four games.

“It’s a great feeling being in the backfield making things happen back there,” Johnson said, “but we have a long way to go. My last game (against Norwich) was a bit more difficult for me because I had a lot of double teams. They didn’t want me in the backfield as much. It was challenging. I just have to figure out a way to beat the double teams when they slide down to my side, which isn’t going to be easy, but nothing in life is easy.”

The Second Liberian Civil War, from 1999-2003, claimed 50,000 lives. Johnson’s grandmother also ran an orphanage on her property.

“She was touched over the fact that a lot of kids after the war lost their parents,” Johnson said. “She was able to give these kids a home. I was living there amongst those kids. Just being in that situation toughens you up.”

His grandmother taught Johnson, his siblings and the other kids about agriculture, harvesting crops, tools, maintenance and fishing.

“She wouldn’t force you to work on the farm,” Johnson, who attended school in Liberia, said, “but she would tell you (if you didn’t) that you’re not going to have dinner. She came up with the saying, ‘There is no food for a lazy man.’ That made everybody want to work hard.

“She taught everyone a trade or a skill that you could use on your own,” Johnson said. “I looked up to her work ethic. I wake up and I’m like, ‘I want to do what you do.’ She inspired me. She wanted everyone in life to understand that you have to earn your means. You’re not going to wake up in the morning and expect everything to be on the table; you’re going to have to earn it. Everything I do today, I want to work hard because I know that’s what it’s going to take to achieve what you want.”

As a freshman at Endicott, Johnson played in 10 games, made 27 tackles and three sacks, and helped the Gulls to the Commonwealth Coast Conference title and NCAA Division 3 playoffs. Former Assumption offensive coordinator Paul McGonagle is in his fifth season as Endicott coach.

Coming into his sophomore season, Johnson dedicated his summer to working out at Exceed Sports Performance & Fitness in Westborough.

“That’s what it takes to give yourself an advantage,” Johnson said. “(I said) ‘This is what I want for myself, and this is what I’m going to do,’ and I stuck to it.”

Following his performance against WPI, Johnson was the CCC Defensive Player of the Week and a D3football.com Team of the Week honoree.

Johnson has wonderful role models, who taught him the importance of sacrifice and the value of diligence. He is making his mother and grandmother proud living their lessons.

“They are superstars in my life,” Johnson said. “It blows my mind sometimes, how they can make it happen. You see it happen and it sticks with you. To be in this position is unbelievable. I’m grateful for it.”

Crusaders seek to stay unbeaten at Harvard

Holy Cross is 4-0 for the first time since 2009, and Saturday at Harvard, the No. 11 Crusaders will try to make it five straight wins to start a season for the first time since 1991.

Last week at Colgate, junior quarterback Matthew Sluka rushed for two touchdowns and threw a pair of TD passes, seniors Liam Anderson and Walter Reynolds each had an interception, the Crusaders stopped Colgate three times on fourth down, sacked Raiders quarterback Michael Brescia four times, and had two special teams takeaways. The first was a game-changer for the Crusaders.

With 1:32 left in the first half and HC trailing, 10-7, senior Devin Haskins blocked a Colgate punt, and the Crusaders took the halftime lead on Sluka’s 22-yard pass to sophomore Justin Shorter. Holy Cross shut out Colgate in the second half.

“That was an unreal effort by Haskins on that block,” Holy Cross coach Bob Chesney said. “It was just a great feeling to capitalize and score. That really put us in the lead and changed everything when we walked into the locker room at halftime.”

HC has led at halftime in three of its four games this season.

The Crusaders have dropped three straight to Harvard, and the statistic that jumped out to Chesney from the last two setbacks was the halftime score — a combined 48-7 Harvard advantage.

Last season, HC trailed, 24-0, at the break and lost, 38-13. In 2019, the Crusaders fell behind, 24-7, at halftime and fell, 31-21.

“We need to be much better than that to get this game started,” Chesney said.

Harvard, coming off an 8-2 mark in which its two losses were by a combined five points, was, along with Dartmouth, the 2022 preseason Ivy League favorite.

The Crimson opened the year with wins over Merrimack (28-21 in overtime) and Brown (35-28).

Last season, Harvard led the nation in rushing defense, allowing 64.6 yards per game. Harvard held its first two foes of 2022 to an average of 41.5 rushing yards. Merrimack’s net total was minus-26 yards.

“They stop the run at a very different level,” said Chesney, whose team is averaging 204.8 rushing yards per game to lead the Patriot League and rank 16th nationally.

“They are a great football team,” Chesney said, “but so are we. It’s going to take everything we’ve got, and we’re excited.”

HC last beat Harvard in 2016. The Crusaders last played at Harvard Stadium in 2018, Chesney’s first season at Holy Cross. The Crusaders fought back from a 16-point deficit after three quarters to take a 31-30 lead, but Harvard kicked the winning field goal as time expired.

Homecoming remains special

Diane Pritchard Clayton was 4 years old when she went to her first WPI football game in 1947, her father, the legendary Bob Pritchard’s first season coaching the Engineers.

On Saturday, Pritchard Clayton will attend her 75th WPI Homecoming game. The Engineers host Merchant Marine at 2:30 p.m. at Alumni Stadium.

“My love of Tech,” Pritchard Clayton said about what brings her back to WPI every year, “and to honor my father.”

Pritchard Clayton and her husband, David Clayton, were driving to Worcester Thursday afternoon from their home outside Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Bob Pritchard coached WPI from 1947 to 1966, and served as athletic director for 26 years. In 1983, he was inducted posthumously as a charter member of the WPI Athletic Hall of Fame.

Pritchard Clayton and her mother cheered on the Engineers at hundreds of games, home and away, through the years. While her father was coaching, Pritchard Clayton missed only one game.

“I grew up with football,” Pritchard Clayton said. “I have a picture of me where all the other girls are holding a doll, and I have a little skirt on with a football under my arm.”

Her favorite memory of WPI football is the 1954 undefeated season. That team is widely recognized as the most dominating team in WPI football history.

“It’s like it was yesterday,” Pritchard Clayton said. “I remember standing at the gate for the (last game of the season) to be over so we could run out on the field. I jumped the fence, and I can remember standing there in the midst of all those players as they lifted my father on their shoulders and carried him off. I can still remember that.”

Pritchard Clayton annually represents her father at WPI’s Hall of Fame banquet and presents the offensive and defensive MVP awards, which are named in Bob Pritchard’s memory, after the Homecoming game.

“I love coming back because I feel my father is still there,” Pritchard Clayton said. “There are a lot of good memories.”

Head of the Class

• Bridgewater State senior running back Adam Couch, the former Leominster High star from Winchendon, rushed for a season-high 150 yards and scored two touchdowns in the Bears’ 40-27 win over Western Connecticut State. Couch, who finished with 201 all-purpose yards, had a career-high 63-yard TD run, and a 40-yard TD reception, also a career best.

• Franklin Pierce junior defensive lineman Chris Yeboah of Worcester and Doherty High, had two sacks and forced two fumbles in the Ravens’ 7-3 win at AIC.

• Anna Maria junior wide receiver Deandre Wallace had a career-high three touchdown catches in the AmCats’ loss to Coast Guard.

• Nichols freshman kicker Kyle Yannucci connected on field goals of 35 and 22 yards, and was 2 for 2 on PATs in the Bison’s loss to Hartwick.

—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @JenTolandTG.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Former Quabbin football star Hector Johnson is thriving at Endicott