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Cottonwood Heights Journal

Brighton’s Johnson, Nonu leading Brighton football

Sep 29, 2021 11:30AM ● By Jerry Christensen

Jack Johnson has a 67% pass completion rate. (Photo courtesy Brighton football)

By Jerry Christensen |  [email protected]

With the first five football games of the much anticipated 2021 season in the books, outstanding athletes begin to emerge. Leading the team on the field is Brighton High School sophomore quarterback Jack Johnson. 

Head coach Justin Hemm says of Johnson, “He has a strong arm which has yielded an astounding 1,360 yards in the first five games of the season.” Johnson’s pass completion rate is 106 of 158 attempts for a remarkable 67% clip. Most impressive for the young quarterback are the 15 passes for touchdowns which is an average of three touchdown passes per game. 

Supporting Johnson’s strong arm and execution skills are the offensive weapons in Lander Barton, Dante McMaster, Tyler Knaak and Mitch Dolato.

On the other side of the ball are stand-out players like Jacob Reece and Mana Nonu. Assistant coach Mason Brinkman described Nonu as “a defensive player with one of the best motors I have ever coached.” Nonu leads the defense with four sacks and four and a half tackles for loss. He has been named team MVP once and most recently defensive player of the week as the team enters into the critical stretch of region games. 

The Brighton varsity football team is the current region defending champion.