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Johnson signs to CAL, graduates early
Everett Johnson
Turlock High Everett Johnson signed his National Letter of Intent on Dec. 18 from the Bulldog gym. Johnson graduated on Dec. 20 and will report to CAL on Jan. 16.

Recent Cal-Berkeley football signee Everett Johnson of Turlock High is the type of athlete that only comes around once every generation, if that. 

The Bulldogs were fortunate to have the 6-foot-8, 300-plus pound lineman starting for their varsity football team over the past three seasons where he made a name for himself early on in his career. 

Johnson made it official on Dec. 18, signing his National Letter of Intent, while also announcing that he is graduating early and reporting to CAL on Jan. 16. 

“I graduated and was the only one,” said Johnson who finished with a 3.6 GPA. “More doors were open to me because of my grades.”

Johnson started getting offers from colleges when he was a sophomore, and decided on Berkeley early.

While Johnson isn’t the only player from THS to be scouted by or attend a Pac-12 school — Josh and Micah Web played for the 1995 Bulldogs and both went on to UCLA on athletic scholarships, Tom Brandstater played for Fresno State football and Paul Larson went on to play at Cal Berkeley as well — he was the first Bulldog to be offered a scholarship following his freshman season, said THS head coach James Peterson. 

Johnson was unique from the start and college scouts recognized his talent.

“One of my biggest was Arizona State; it was kind of hard to say no to Herm Edwards. Kevin Mawae is a coach, tough as heck since they are former great NFL characters, tough to say no,” said Johnson. “Cal was home for me, literally two hours from my house, all friends and family and a degree from Cal, not often and people can say that, and the coaches are telling me we are treading and the coaches mentioned that we could be a serious Rose Bowl contender and I wanted to be a part of that.” 

One of the other monster schools that had Johnson on their radar was the University of Oklahoma. They were ranked No. 4 in the country heading into this year’s college football playoffs and were semifinalists before falling to No. 1 LSU this past Saturday in the Peach Bowl. 

Johnson leaves Turlock as a three-year varsity starter that never lost a single game in league. 

During the past three seasons in league play, Turlock was 16-0. This included three league titles, including a Central California Conference title in 2017, and the first two ever Central California Athletic League titles in 2018 and this past fall. 

Johnson started every game since his sophomore year, with the exception of two during his junior year. 

“I am 110 percent satisfied with how I am leaving. I don't want to have regrets and say I did everything I wanted to do, and no doubt I am leaving Turlock with everything I wanted to do,” said Johnson. “I want to thank friends and family cause a million names I can throw, coach Pete, Smith and Zipser, those guys helped me grow and mature as a young man. And really, I want to thank God and wouldn’t be here without him, no doubt.”

As of now, Johnson is undeclared in his major, but his goal is to focus on his game right now.

“My goal is to learn…I am going to try and start, not going to just take the bench, but I need to learn from the season vets,” Johnson added. “They have been around this level of play for a long time and I want to learn as much as I can, and put it to the test and work my butt off and see if I can get a starting spot next year.”