TOP PHOTO: Cougar Thomas Johnson kicks during a game on Pat Kerr Field in 2019.

JACKSBORO, TN (WLAF) – “They’ve been following me since 2019, but the talk of me playing at Maryville became serious earlier this month,” said Campbell High football and soccer kicker Thomas Johnson.

Toady at 10 am, the soccer player turned football player, will sign scholarship papers to suit up for the Maryville College Fighting Scots football team in 2021. The ceremony will take place in the Commons at Campbell High.

Johnson, who plans to major in Exercise Science, will begin practice with the Scots in June. “They’ll be sending me a training schedule pretty soon,” he said.

Even though Johnson’s been a standout for Cougar Soccer, football is his sport of choice at the collegiate level. Maryville plans on Johnson handling punting and placement duties telling him that he will have the opportunity to start as a freshman for the NCAA Division III school.

When asked which he prefers, punting or kicking, he hesitates saying “I love punting, because I like watching the ball go high. However, I enjoy putting points on the scoreboard.”

Johnson began the football portion of his athletic career as a junior, and it wasn’t long into his first season when he made a most significant contribution to Cougar Football, a game winning field goal. He knocked through a 35-yard field goal on the last play of the game as Campbell won 24-21 at Carter in 2019. Related story.

The Scots play in the USA South Athletic Conference. Member schools are located in North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and Kentucky.

For now, Johnson is preparing for his senior season of soccer. “It’s a big transformation from soccer to football, because I run the field in soccer and don’t need so much extra weight. I’ll regain about 15 pounds for football,” said Johnson.

Cougar fans, along with Johnson’s parents, Dustin and Carolyn, and family will soon be following Number 37 when he wears the orange and garnet of the Fighting Scots of Maryville College. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 02/25/2021-6AM)

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