Bryant Johnson looked around.
The former Milford High three-sport star was going to play college football somewhere. Assumption, Northeastern, Stonehill and Bryant were on his dance card. But in his heart, it was all about Bentley University.
"I liked the feel of the place," he says.
As luck would have it, "Bentley was the first school to contact me that I was accepted," says Johnson, a southpaw-slinging quarterback. The school was a perfect fit. He'd known for a long time that he wanted to be a business major. What better place than Bentley?
Johnson led Milford to Super Bowls in consecutive years, both against South Hadley, which won the first meeting as a crestfallen Johnson left the game in the first quarter with a pinched nerve in his back. He never returned.
Johnson was Central Mass. Div. 1 co-MVP his senior year. The Scarlet Hawks went 11-1, finishing it off with a redemptive win over South Hadley.
When Johnson arrived at Bentley in 2007 the Falcons had two established junior quarterbacks. He didn't get into a game. He kept waiting for his chance. It wasn't exactly jumping out at him, but he tried to make the most of it. "I thought I grew as a player sitting and watching the games, then seeing the films. I tried to show the coaches I'd be ready if they needed me."
Last season, the Falcons were trailing Assumption 20-3. Johnson was sent in and engineered a 22-20 comeback win. "That game gave me all the confidence in the world," says Johnson. The next week, he got a start and was 18-for-32 with two touchdown tosses, but the Falcons got doused by powerhouse Southern Connecticut.
The next week, he was a backup QB again, finishing the season with 44 completions in 98 attempts, with three TDs and four picks. "The (quarterbacks) in front of me deserved to be playing," says Johnson.
But it's Johnson's team now, and the Falcons are 5-0.
"I met with Bryant this summer over dinner," says new head coach Thom Boerman, who had been a Bentley assistant for 24 years. "We talked about him taking on leadership (of the team). He fell right into it. He was ready."
Really ready. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Johnson has completed 61 percent of his passes (105-for-172), 12 for touchdowns against only two INTs.
"He has a good pocket presence," says junior wideout Wes Critides, the ex-Wayland High star who has a team-high five touchdown receptions. "Bryant's going to deliver the ball where it's supposed to be. We have a certain level of trust."
Johnson and Critides hooked up on the first play of the game in a 43-17 win over Curry. It went for a 67-yard score.
"I'm kinda about the long ball," says Critides, smiling.
In a 30-20 win over defending Northeast-10 champ AIC last week, Johnson threw for 246 yards and rushed for 72 more. He tossed the deciding touchdown pass with 2:16 remaining in the game to former Natick High standout Mike Slattery, the junior tight end.
"His passes are hard but smooth, I've never caught a ball like his. He's one of the best quarterbacks I've played with," says Slattery, who caught passes from Billy Flutie in high school.
"It's been amazing so far," says Johnson. "We set goals high at the beginning of the season. We knew we had something special. The new coaches brought a lot of enthusiasm to the program."
Boerman was happy working under legendary Falcon coach Pete Yetten. "I never wanted to be a head coach," says Boerman. "Pete's retirement caught me totally by surprise." When the new coach assembled his players for the first time Boerman, a Maynard native, says "there was a commitment level you could feel. But I'd be lying if I told you I thought we'd be 5-0."
The Falcons play Saturday at 3-1 Merrimack, which is averaging 39 points in three Division II games. Bentley will need its defense to step up.
The Bryant Johnson-led offense hasn't missed a beat.
(Lenny Megliola's e-mail is lennymegs@aol.com)
