Finally on Field Together, Johnson Twins Form Prolific Pair in Manchester Backfield
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
November 11, 2026
When Donte Johnson was a freshman, he was called up to the Manchester varsity football team. At first, he was a fifth-quarter player, moving up from the junior varsity to also play one quarter in the varsity’s games. He eventually made the Flying Dutchman special teams lineup.
Jayden Johnson, his twin brother, didn’t play varsity as a freshman, but stepped in as a sophomore when the projected Manchester starter at his position got hurt. Jayden responded with a great fall. Unfortunately, Donte missed that fall due to a knee injury suffered during basketball season.
As juniors, big things were expected from the duo, but injuries slowed Donte, and Jayden struggled as part of a very young Manchester team.
This season, seemingly out of nowhere, the two blossomed into the dynamic duo, both recording 1,000-yard rushing seasons for a 7-4 Manchester team that played in the Cascades Conference championship game and made the Division 8 playoffs. The trigger was a new offense installed in the offseason as the Flying Dutchmen went from the T formation to the single wing.
“I really liked the offense a lot more,” Jayden said. “I feel like it was meant for us. The T didn’t let our players use their full ability. With this team, this was perfect because we had a lot of speed.”
Donte agreed.
“I think it was interesting,” he said. “We knew we were going to run a different offense, but Coach really didn’t tell us until we went to the Olivet camp. I think it was the best change we could have done.”
Joshua Lindeman, who just completed his third season coaching the Flying Dutchmen, said seeing the Johnson twins together on the football field and playing at such a high level was great not only for the team, but for them as individuals as well.
“I think, because of some of the things they have gone through in the past, football and sports have become part of their identity,” Lindeman said. “To see them together, on the football field, finally, was a great thing to see. They couldn’t be more different, but they genuinely love each other and are great young men.”
The twins are from Manchester, where they have family, including grandparents. At a young age, they moved to northwest Tennessee. They returned to the Manchester area as fifth graders but had to reclassify as students and had different classmates from when they left.
“We had the choice of where we wanted to go to school, but we chose Manchester,” Jayden said. “It had always been home.”
Over the last 18 months, the two were adopted by their aunt, the sister of their mother.
“Sports has been their constant,” said Lindsey Beerens, their aunt. “It was a bad deal for them for a long time, but sports helped them. They moved around a lot when they were younger.
“This year, it was great to see them healthy and playing together. They are so supportive of one another.”
Lindeman said while the twins were both running backs, they couldn’t be more different off the field.
Donte, he said, is the one who talks more frequently, always with something on his mind.
“He is like the donkey from Shrek,” Lindeman said. “I’ve learned that is just who he is. He talks all of the time. It drives Jayden nuts.”
Jayden, on the other hand, is the more reserved of the two, but is also more open to talking about things he has gone through personally.
“If I had a dime for every time I had to tell those two to leave each other alone, I would be driving a much better car,” Lindeman said.
Ultimately, the two are great teammates – to each other and the rest of the team.
“One thing you will see, even though they can be bickering at each other at practice all week or in a game, when the other makes a play, the happiest guy on the field is the other one,” Lindeman said. “The celebration and joy they have over each other’s success is great. If you talk to them, like after Donte makes a good run, Jayden will say something like, ‘I’d (have) made it look better.’ But he has true joy in his heart and is happy for him.
“They are two competitive souls with each other.”
Jayden said Lindeman’s arrival helped spark a change in not only him but the team and community.
“There was a noticeable change,” he said. “I feel like he is pulling everyone together. We are one big family now. The community feels so much closer. Everyone is involved. We have so much support, dads from the community come out every Friday and help set up stuff.
“We have a motto – Family means Forget About Me, I Love You – and I think that pulls everyone together. It makes me want to work hard for everyone around me.”
Donte said he and his brother started playing tackle football at age 8 while they were in Tennessee. They play other sports – Jayden focuses on indoor track in the winter and outdoor track in the spring, and Donte is planning to play baseball this upcoming season – but football has been their main sport for as long as they can remember.
Lindeman said there was a time when he wasn’t sure Donte would play football again, which is one of the reasons this past season was so much fun.
“I watched film of him as a freshman and I thought, ‘There’s my starting quarterback for the next three years,’” Lindeman said. “Then, when I met him, he was hobbling around because of his knee. He sat on the couch in my office at one point and said he wasn’t going to play. When he came back and started playing, you could see his confidence. His whole personality started to shine.”
Together, the twins did more than just lead the Manchester football team to a great season. They lifted up everyone around them.
“They genuinely love each other,” Lindeman said. “It’s been special to watch how both of them were good for us this year because of what they’ve gone through. To watch both of them to do it together was very cool.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a news and sports reporter at the Adrian Daily Telegram and the Monroe News for 30 years, including 10 years as city editor in Monroe. He's written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. He is now publisher and editor of The Blissfield Advance, a weekly newspaper. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) At left, Jayden Johnson, and right, twin Donte Johnson, were both 1,000-yard rushers for Manchester this season. (Photos by Tyler George).
1st & Goal: 2024 Week 3 Preview
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
September 12, 2024
It’s always “rivalry week” somewhere in Michigan, and “championship week” is still a month or more away for most football contenders.
But as we finish up the first third of the 2024 regular season, this could be “opportunity week” for several teams playing in our top regional matchups highlighted below.
All nine games are part of annual series, and most of those series have been relatively one-sided of late. But that past history has set up opportunities for some of this season’s early risers, who will try to avenge 2023 defeats, shake up league standings, continue establishing themselves as teams to watch or some combination of all three.
Stay tuned. All games listed below are tonight unless noted, and keep up with results as they are reported all weekend on the MHSAA Scores page.
Bay & Thumb
Lake Fenton (2-0) at Goodrich (1-1) WATCH
Goodrich has won two straight in this series – including 34-15 a year ago – and five of the last six against the Blue Devils. This is a Flint Metro League Stars opener, and the Martians rebounded in a big way from a season-opening loss to Frankenmuth with a 47-7 win over Linden last week. Lake Fenton linebacker Hunter Carey could be key in slowing Chase Burnett and a Goodrich rushing attack that found its stride after that first-week shutout.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY New Lothrop (1-1) at Chesaning (2-0) WATCH, Grand Blanc (1-1) at Saginaw Heritage (2-0) WATCH, Muskegon Mona Shores (2-0) at Flint Hamady (2-0), Ubly (0-2) at Harbor Beach (2-0) WATCH.
Greater Detroit
Warren De La Salle Collegiate (2-0) at Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (2-0)
De La Salle won last year’s meeting 41-27 and owns a four-game winning streak against the Eaglets. The Pilots also have been among the most impressive teams statewide to start this season with wins over Davison and Detroit Martin Luther King, while giving up a combined 16 points over those two victories. But St. Mary’s is 2-0 for the first time since 2021, and with a 50-19 season-opening win over Portage Northern especially impressive.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Grand Rapids Catholic Central (2-0) at Pontiac Notre Dame Prep (2-0) WATCH, West Bloomfield (1-1) at Rochester Adams (2-0) WATCH, Harper Woods (1-1) at Detroit Catholic Central (2-0) WATCH, Oxford (1-1) at Clarkston (1-1) WATCH.
Mid-Michigan
Grand Ledge (2-0) at East Lansing (2-0) WATCH
While most will point to East Lansing’s Week 5 matchup with DeWitt as the game of the year in the Lansing area, Grand Ledge will attempt to break up that excitement. The Comets are seeking to avenge a 35-21 loss to the Trojans from a year ago (and have lost five of their last six in this series) and no doubt will take some tips from Hudsonville, which edged East Lansing 14-12 last week. That defeat on the road against a top team likely will end up looking like a “good loss,” however, and the Trojans’ season-opening 31-7 win over Portage Central looked even better last week as Central fell to reigning Division 3 champion Forest Hills Central by only seven points.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY McBain (2-0) at Beal City (2-0) WATCH, Montrose (1-1) at Durand (2-0) WATCH, Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary (2-0) at Ithaca (2-0), Mason (1-1) at Williamston (0-2) WATCH.
Northern Lower Peninsula
Gladwin (2-0) at Ogemaw Heights (2-0) WATCH
The Flying Gs are flying high again with a variety of playmakers contributing to the 99 points they’ve scored over their first two games. But this trip to see a familiar opponent should be more challenging. Gladwin and Ogemaw Heights have played three straight seasons – Gladwin winning three times but Ogemaw winning last season’s playoff rematch 28-23. This time, for the first time, they’re part of the same Jack Pine Conference division, and the Falcons also earned early buzz with a 29-13 win over reigning Division 8 champion Ubly in their season opener.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Benzie Central (1-1) at Frankfort (1-1) WATCH, Elk Rapids (1-1) at Cheboygan (1-1) WATCH, Charlevoix (1-1) at Boyne City (1-1) WATCH, East Jordan (2-0) at Kalkaska (1-1) WATCH.
Southeast & Border
Grass Lake (2-0) at Hanover-Horton (2-0) WATCH
Hanover-Horton has played some notable opponents close over the last decade, but a one-point win last week might be a sign the Comets are on their way to building a memorable 2024. They edged frequent playoff team Michigan Center, in doing so moving to 2-0 and already equaling their season win total from a year ago. Grass Lake is another playoff regular, and Hanover-Horton actually has defeated the Warriors two of the last three seasons – although Grass Lake won last year’s matchup 32-22.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Saline (2-0) at Ann Arbor Pioneer (2-0) WATCH, Adrian Madison (2-0) at Clinton (1-1) WATCH, Ida (2-0) at Hudson (1-1) WATCH, Ann Arbor Skyline (1-1) at Ann Arbor Huron (1-1) WATCH.
Southwest Corridor
Constantine (2-0) at Schoolcraft (2-0) WATCH
Constantine has won this rivalry game the last two seasons including 27-21 a year ago and rumbles into this year’s edition having outscored its first two opponents by a combined 114-14 – with a 64-6 win over 2023 playoff team Benton Harbor last week. Schoolcraft has defeated returning playoff teams both of its first two games – Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker and then Centreville – and will try to finish off last season’s comeback against the Falcons that fell just short.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Ottawa Lake Whiteford (1-1) at Buchanan (1-1) WATCH, Parchment (2-0) at Dowagiac (1-1), Lawton (1-1) at Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep (2-0), Three Rivers (1-1) at Niles (1-1) WATCH.
Upper Peninsula
Negaunee (2-0) at Calumet (2-0) WATCH
The Western Peninsula Athletic Conference Copper is loaded again, and for the second-straight season Calumet plays Negaunee, Menominee and Kingsford in back-to-back-to-back weeks with an opportunity to establish itself in the mix as well. The Copper Kings will make the push coming off a 30-14 win over Ishpeming Westwood and will try to break a two-game losing streak against the Miners after Negaunee won last season’s meeting 20-13 on the way to eventually sharing the league title.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Kingsford (2-0) at Gladstone (0-2) WATCH, Hancock (1-1) at Houghton (0-2), Menominee (2-0) at Ishpeming Westwood (1-1) WATCH. SATURDAY Gaylord (0-2) at Marquette (2-0).
West Michigan
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central (2-0) at Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern (2-0) WATCH
Forest Hills Central has owned this rivalry matchup winning all nine since the two began playing annually again in 2016. But the Huskies are coming off their winningest season since 2015 and have an opportunity to set themselves up with incredible momentum heading into a challenging league schedule that opens Week 4 with Muskegon followed by Reeths-Puffer, Mona Shores and Byron Center. FHC has won 11 straight games – with five of those, of course, coming during last season’s Division 3 title run – and has downed 2023 playoff teams Reeths-Puffer and Portage Central to start its repeat pursuit.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Ada Forest Hills Eastern (2-0) at Hudsonville Unity Christian (2-0), East Kentwood (1-1) at Caledonia (2-0), Grand Rapids South Christian (2-0) at Grand Rapids West Catholic (1-1), Zeeland West (2-0) at Whitehall (1-1) WATCH.
8-Player
Norway (2-0) at Crystal Falls Forest Park (2-0) WATCH
After closing last season with a pair of losses, Forest Park has popped back up impressively winning its first two games by a combined score of 87-14. The Trojans will bring that surge into this matchup with Norway, the only opponent to defeat them during last year’s 7-1 start. The Knights won last year convincingly, 40-6, and have put up a combined 102 points over the first two weeks as they look to build on last year’s 8-3 finish, their best since moving to 8-player in 2021. Norway also won this matchup in 2022.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Portland St. Patrick (2-0) at Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart (2-0), Climax-Scotts (1-1) at Adrian Lenawee Christian (1-1) WATCH, Mendon (2-0) at Concord (2-0) WATCH, Au Gres-Sims (1-1) at Rogers City (1-1).
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PHOTO Fenton defenders begin to bring down Haslett's Cornelius Malone (5) during the Tigers' 21-14 win in Week 2. (Photo by Terry Lyons.)