Inside The Huskies

Huskies Tap into Armijo High Once More, Offer Young DL

Jericho Johnson, a football recruit with a great name, has a UW scholarship proposal.
Dan Raley|
Huskies Tap into Armijo High Once More, Offer Young DL
Huskies Tap into Armijo High Once More, Offer Young DL

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Washington Huskies

People go to Armijo High School in Fairfield California, which is northeast of Berkeley and Oakland, to find the next big thing.

In 1976, then University of Washington football coach Don James, while pursuing his second recruiting class, pulled coveted defensive tackle Doug Martin out of there. 

Martin became a four-year starter for the Huskies, won a Rose Bowl, went as the ninth pick overall in the 1980 NFL draft, played 10 seasons for the Minnesota Vikings and led the league in sacks in 1982 with 11.5.

His older brother George left Armijo to play on the defensive line for the Oregon Ducks and become a 14-year NFL veteran, all of which he spent with the New York Giants.

Yes, we said the next big thing.

Before the Martin brothers, there was Huey Lewis, who briefly attended Armijo in the late 1960s before becoming a record-selling musician and a well-known pop star.

And, finally, the school claims Pat Morita, Armijo Class of 1949 and deceased for the past 17 years. Of course, he will always be remembered for playing Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid film series.

OK, so what does Armijo have to offer now?

Jericho Johnson.

He's a 6-foot-3, 320-pound defensive tackle with a great name who hails from the Class of 2024 and he just received a UW scholarship offer this weekend. 

Johnson's name is just starting to circulate through the recruiting ranks. 

He attended the University of California football camp last week, visiting Sacramento State before that and participating in the ESPN 300 underclassman camp in May. 

Along the way, Johnson was introduced to the former Bears and NFL standout Hardy Nickerson. He's been in contact with Husky defensive-line coach Inoke Breckterfield. A 3-star recruit, he one other scholarship offer so far from San Jose State.

Johnson appears to resemble former Husky and current Oregon defensive tackle Taki Taimani in both large body shape and big personality.

"Slow feet don't eat!" he posted alongside a workout video showing him running an agility drill.

Johnson plays for a team called the Royals and he and his defensive teammates up front refer to themselves as "the Trench Monsters." Yet they all have some work to do following a 2-8 season.

Where's Mr. Miyagi when you need him to whip somebody into shape? 

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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