By Marty Gordon
NRVsports@ourvalley.org
One of Blacksburg High Schools top offensive leaders is taking his talents to Junior College. Quarterback Grant Johnston will attend Lackawanna College in Scranton, Pennsylvania. This past season, he passed for 2,291 yards on 151 of 247 with 30 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
For the most part, Johnston has not received much attention from Division I programs. Instead schools like Concord did make offers, but he feels the JUCO route could gain some more attention in the future.
“I feel like it will give me the best opportunity to fulfill my dreams of being a D1 football player,” he said.
Lackawanna College, which was formerly known as Lackawanna Junior College and originally Scranton Business College, is a private college with an enrollment of 1,625.
This past month, 11 Lackawanna players signed National Letters of Intent to play at several D-1 schools including Penn State and the University of Tennessee.
Mark Glowinski (Class of 2011) and Kevin White (2012), both transferred from Lackawanna College to West Virginia University. White was a 2015 first-round NFL Draft pick as a wide receiver with the Chicago Bears, and Glowinski is a guard for the Indianapolis Colts.
Baltimore Ravens running back Lorenzo Taliaferro, a 2011 graduate of Lackawanna College, transferred to Coastal Carolina University on his road to the National Football League. In addition, 2014 Lackawanna College graduate guard/tackle Jermaine Eluemunor transferred to Texas A&M and was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Current Lackawanna Head Coach Mark Duda was a 1983 graduate of the University of Maryland who was selected in the fourth round of the 1983 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. Duda retired from the NFL in 1987.
Johnston said he chose the school because he loved the family type atmosphere that was there.
Last year, Lackawanna won the Valley of the Sun Bowl 17-16 over Arizona Community College.
Duda has been a member of the football staff at Lackawanna College since the introduction of the sport in 1993. After one season as defensive coordinator, he was promoted to head coach and has since compiled an impressive record of 159-76 while elevating the program to a position of national prominence.
In his tenure at the college, Coach Duda has produced over 370 Division I Scholarship Athletes and has had over 15 players sign with NFL teams. He has won Northeast Football Conference Coach of the Year honors on four different occasions and is currently the leader among active coaches in the NJCAA in wins and 12th all-time. In 2017.
Johnston was named the River Ridge and regional offensive player of year, and he thinks the JUCO route will help him to get in the right mindset.
“I will be competing against the best of the best that just couldn’t make it in to school. I also didn’t always have the best workout ethic in high school so for me to get to my goal of D-1, I’m really going to have to step up my work ethic,” Johnston said.
For now, he is unsure of what he will major in at the school. His goals on the field might have a little bit more incentive to prove himself to those college coaches who passed up on him.
“I want to show them that they all made a mistake and how good I really am. I just want them all to kind of regret not looking at me,” Johnston said.
Off the field, he plans to push himself harder in the classroom. “I want to get my grades really well so when I transfer to a college, I can be good and not have to worry about raising my grades,” he concluded.
Johnston’s father, Chad is a former standout QB at West Virginia University and served as his son’s offensive coordinator at Blacksburg High School for the past three seasons.
