Here is the TNT’s All-Area football player of the year. He’s from Lincoln High School
It didn’t take long for Lincoln High School football coach Masaki Matsumoto to realize he had something special on his hands with Gabarri Johnson. Playing as the scout team quarterback his freshman year, Johnson showed flashes of the tantalizing playmaking ability that would later define his high school career.
“We knew he could be special,” Matsumoto said.
Special, indeed. In three seasons as the starting quarterback for the Abes, Johnson became known for making highlight reel plays and racking up gobs of yards in the air and on the ground. A true-dual threat, Johnson was equally dangerous as a runner and passer. He sliced through opposing defenses with ease, making defenders look silly with his unique elusiveness in the running game. As a passer, he could make every throw, carving defenses up with his arm.
Johnson departs Lincoln as one of the best quarterbacks Tacoma has ever seen. He is The News Tribune’s 2022 All-Area player of the year after putting together a dominant senior season and leading the Abes to an 11-1 record and into the Class 3A state tournament quarterfinals.
“It was really enjoyable,” Johnson said. “Senior year was the only year we went undefeated as far as we did. It was fun, we had a lot of momentum. We wanted to go all the way, be the first team at Lincoln to make it to the state championship.”
The Abes ultimately fell short of that goal, losing in heartbreaking fashion to Bellevue at Lincoln Bowl in the state quarterfinals. Still, it was one of the best seasons in the program’s history and Johnson was front and center, leading the charge.
In his senior season, Johnson completed 133-of-190 passes for 2,301 yards and 25 touchdowns. He rushed 177 times for 1,639 yards and 21 touchdowns. In his career, he passed for 6,165 yards and 71 touchdowns and rushed for 2,605 yards and 39 touchdowns. He played receiver as a freshman and caught 17 passes for 133 yards and a touchdown.
Julien Simon, who signed with USC coming out of Lincoln, told reporters during Johnson’s freshman year that he would be the next Lamar Jackson. Simon was a senior on that team in 2019, leading Lincoln to the state tournament semifinals for the first time in school history. Johnson didn’t play quarterback as a freshman, but featured some at receiver. Mostly, the season was a chance for him to sit back and learn from a talented group of upperclassmen.
“I was always hanging with those guys on and off the field,” Johnson said. “That’s what gave me a lot of confidence as a freshman to just play my hardest every time. When you’ve got guys like that supporting you, why wouldn’t you want to just go over the edge? Because you know they’re going to do the same for you.”
Matsumoto has lost track of how many times he’s stood in disbelief on the sideline watching Johnson make circus plays.
“Many times where I said, ‘No! Oh wait, yes!’” Matsumoto said, laughing. “He was trying to make things happen and a lot of times he would. It was amazing. His junior year, he had an amazing season. I was thinking, ‘How can you top that?’ Then he did.”
Teams in the 3A Pierce County League won’t be heartbroken to see Johnson graduate and move on to the next level, where he’ll play for the Missouri Tigers in the SEC. Just ask longtime Lakes coach Dave Miller.
“Yeah, I definitely am excited about not losing sleep over trying to to figure out how to stop him,” Miller said, laughing. You do everything you can, but he just makes plays. … I think he’s just a playmaker. In the biggest games, he played his best.
“His elusiveness set him apart. I don’t think he has the fastest straight-line speed, but in a phone booth, being able to make people miss, buying time, keeping his eyes downfield and finding a receiver, he seemed to do that in all the situations. … It’ll be easy to root for him (at Missouri). He’s a great kid.”
Johnson will have a lot of Tacoma rooting for him to succeed a couple thousand miles away for the next four years.
“Always reppin’ Tacoma,” he said. “I’m just super excited to go down there and play ball with everybody going to the NFL out of the SEC. Just to go down there, the NFL has always been my dream. Dominating the SEC is just the next step.”
This story was originally published December 14, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
