Johnson, Jones grab Greater Houston honors

Jerrod Johnson of Humble and Richard Jones of La Marque cleaned up nicely and took home the hardware at the Houston Touchdown Club Awards dinner Wednesday night.

Johnson (6-foot-6, 210 pounds), who won the offensive player of the year, is a Texas A&M commit and Jones, the defensive player of the year, (6-foot-1, 275 pounds) is committed to Texas Tech. Coaches including Texas A&M's Dennis Franchione, Mississippi State's Sylvester Croom, Houston's Art Briles and Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy were on hand among hundreds of assistant coaches.

"I wish I could bring all of my teammates up here on stage with me," Johnson said. "The coaches and administration also supported me through the years and I appreciate that."

Johnson is being recruited as a wide-out, but his exploits at quarterback may make the Texas A&M staff give him a chance as a signal-caller. He is also an all-district basketball player, who may try and play for the Aggies as well.

Jones, who originally committed to Missouri before changing to Texas Tech, is an extremely explosive lineman who anchored a stingy La Marque defense for two years.

"I want to thank my coaches and family for everything they have done over the years," he said. "I couldn't have done it without them."

Defensive nominees included Will Thompson of Katy, Patrick Lavine of Jersey Village, and Chykie Brown of North Shore.

Katy's Andy Dalton, Klein Collins' Michael Goodson, Elkins' Diatric Williams, North Shore's Chris Riser, Kashmere's Nathan Guillory, Dulles' A.J. Udoeyop, Austin's Jerry Hughes were the offensive nominees.