Johnnel Johnson, Cole Toddings set school records in Barnegat win
Barnegat senior Johnnel Johnson went back to his roots for a record-tying performance, while senior linebacker Cole Toddings just kept doing what he always does to put his name in the school record book as well in a 47-23 win over Freehold on Friday night.
In his first start at tailback, Johnson piled up a career-high 178 yards and tied a school record with six touchdowns in the victory. Johnson is normally the Bengals’ slot receiver but switched to running back for the Freehold game after star running back Myquan Rush-Esdaile suffered an ankle injury in the season opener against Toms River East.
“The big question was how our offense was going to respond, and Johnnel gave a big response,” Barnegat head coach Paul Covine said.
Johnson came up through the system playing running back, but Covine switched him to slot receiver this season to get two of his best athletes on the field. Rush-Esdaile is coming off a season in which he ran for 1,096 yards and 16 touchdowns, so he was the established starter at tailback.
After Rush-Esdaile went down in the first quarter of the season opener, sophomore Chris Santero stepped in at running back for the remainder of a 12-7 loss to Toms River East. With a week to prepare for Freehold, Covine moved Johnson to running back with spectacular results. He tied the record of six touchdowns set by former Barnegat star Jojo Bivins in 2022.
“Johnnel has running back roots,” Covine said. “Chris came in and did a great job against East, but I didn’t want to put all that pressure on a sophomore (against Freehold).”
Johnson is one of three Shore Conference players to score six touchdowns in Week One. Lakewood senior quarterback Rahmel Anderson set school records with 353 yards rushing and six scores in a win over Asbury Park, while Manasquan’s Ace Etienne remarkably scored a school-record six touchdowns in only a half in racking up 228 yards on the ground in a win over Monmouth on Saturday.
On the defensive side, Barnegat All-Shore linebacker Cole Toddings continued to be a force. He had 13 tackles in the win, which made him the program’s all-time leading tackler, according to Covine. The Colgate recruit has 28 tackles and 8 tackles for a loss in two games.
Barnegat senior linebacker Cole Toddings set the school record for career tackles in a win over Freehold. (Bob Badders | rpbphotography.com)
“He just has a relentless motor,” Covine said.
Barnegat looks to go to 2-1 when it faces Jackson Liberty (1-1) next week. Rush-Esdaile is week-to-week with the ankle injury, according to Covine.
