Classical’s Casey Johnson heading to Harvard

Classical senior Casey Johnson, an Item football all-star, received good news last Wednesday: He had gotten accepted into Harvard.”It released a lot of stress,” Johnson said on Monday. “I was pretty nervous. I can just relax and finish up the year strong.”Johnson, a 6-1, 190-lb. two-way player for the Rams football team, said he hopes to continue his gridiron career in college.”It’s a much faster game,” he said of college football in general. “Everyone is much stronger. Everyone was the best on their team in high school. It’s a big change.”At Harvard, he said that he would probably suit up at linebacker should he make the squad. In high school he went up against players who could weigh 300 or 350 pounds.”I’m not as big as them,” he said, “but I think it’s more about leverage and position.”Johnson played four positions at Classical: Linebacker, running back, safety and wide receiver. He was a four-year varsity player.At running back, he said, “I was more power than speed. It comes down to vision, seeing the hole and cutting through it hard.”Classical enjoyed quite a few highlights this past fall, including a victory over Marblehead in which Johnson scored three touchdowns at the end and another win over English on Thanksgiving.”It was emotional,” Johnson said of his final high school football season. “Pretty exciting. We beat English ? We went out on a good note.”He credits his coach, Tim Phelps, with helping him out with the college process. Of the eight schools to which he applied, Harvard was his top choice.Johnson also had the support of one of his older brothers, Tony, himself a former Classical player who is now on the Merrimack College football team.”He stayed focused on school and football,” Casey Johnson said. “Throughout the application process, he’d tell me to call coaches up, talk to them and meet with people.”Johnson has never been to a Harvard football game, but he has followed the career of fellow Lynner Matt Curtis, an English graduate who went on to excel for the Crimson.”He was very successful there,” Johnson said.In addition to four years of varsity football at Classical, Johnson played varsity basketball this past season, calling teammate Jasper Grassa “a great leader and basketball player,” and varsity outdoor track his first three years. He has also done some community service.His favorite subject is mathematics, which he said is also his best subject. He is taking calculus this year; he took precalculus and statistics last year. Through Classical, he has made many friends; he also praised the teacher-student relationships.At Harvard, he would like to study business, although he said he is undecided as of now.In a sign of the computer-friendly times, his acceptance came first through an email. A letter followed through the mail.”It’s a really good school,” he said. “I’ll get a good education there, and they have a good football team.”Johnson’s acceptance has administrators and coaches at 235 O’Callaghan Way bursting with pride.Principal Gene Constantino said Johnson is a great kid and a great role model. He said he’s known him four or five years, going back to the days he coached him in AAU basketball.”There probably isn’t a more well-liked or well-respected kid in the school,” he said. “He quietly goes about his business.”Constantino said Johnson had a lot of people outside the school pulling for him during the application process, including Curtis, who was captain of the Harvard football team his senior year. Constantino said when he heard Johnson was applying to Harvard, he talked to English principal Andy Fila, who helped connect the two.Constantino said Peter Mazareas of Nahant, a former star basketball player at Classical and a Harvard graduate, was helpful, as was former Classical football coach Matt Durgin, who coached Johnson and whose brother is a Harvard graduate.”It’s great for him and great for the school,” Classical athletic director Bill Devin said. “Here’s a kid who, when he steps on the fo