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: 2026 Week 4 Preview
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
September 18, 2026
We’re just three weeks into the 2026 high school football season, and a great sign that Michigan teams are challenging themselves is that only 116 – or just under 20 percent – are still undefeated.
That total also is guaranteed to be reduced by 15 this weekend, and will likely fall well below the century mark with several high-powered matchups kicking off all over the state. Five of those games are among those featured below.
Games below are Friday unless noted. Tune in to the NFHS Network to watch the majority and follow the MHSAA Scores page for results as they’re submitted.
Bay & Thumb
Linden (3-0) at Holly (3-0)
Holly is 3-0 for the first time since 1984, and a 42-7 win over Pontiac Notre Dame Prep is notable even though the Fighting Irish are struggling early after finishing Division 5 runner-up last season. The Bronchos also haven’t defeated Linden since 2011 and fell last year 42-6. But a win would open up the Flint Metro League Stripes race significantly and provide a giant assist as Holly works to make the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY North Branch (2-1) at Imlay City (3-0), Caro (3-0) at Millington (3-0), Montrose (2-1) at Chesaning (2-1), Shepherd (2-1) at Gladwin (2-1).
Greater Detroit
Clarkston (3-0) at Rochester Adams (2-1)
Even as Adams has reached Division 1 Semifinals the last two seasons, it hasn’t won the Oakland Activities Association Red since sharing the title with Clarkston and West Bloomfield in 2022. Clarkston won last year’s matchup on the way to the OAA Red championship. Both faced 2025 league champions to open this season, Adams falling to Romeo and Clarkston defeating South Lyon, and there’s always a chance this will be just the first of multiple meetings as they’ve seen each other in the playoffs as well two of the last four years.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Warren De La Salle Collegiate (2-1) at Detroit Catholic Central (3-0), Detroit Denby (2-1) at Detroit Cody (3-0), Romeo (3-0) at Macomb Dakota (2-1), Monroe Jefferson (3-0) at Riverview (3-0).
Mid-Michigan
McBain (2-1) at Beal City (3-0)
Beal City has only three Highland Conference losses since the start of 2019 – all to McBain, but with the most recent in 2024. The Aggies won last season’s meeting 42-7 and are coming off a major defeat last week of Springport plus have downed two more 2025 playoff teams in Ravenna and Manton. McBain’s only Highland loss since the start of 2024 came to Beal City, and the Ramblers’ defeat this season came to unbeaten Division 4 power Edwardsburg.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY McBain (2-1) at Beal City (3-0), Traverse City Central (2-1) at Mount Pleasant (3-0), Birch Run (3-0) at New Lothrop (2-1), Brighton (2-1) at Hartland (2-1), Saginaw Michigan Lutheran Seminary (2-1) at Ithaca (3-0).
Northern Lower Peninsula
Grand Blanc (3-0) at Traverse City West (2-1)
Grand Blanc has dominated all four games of the recent series between these two, but there’s reason to believe this meeting might be closer. It may start with Grand Blanc having to travel much farther than usual – although the Bobcats also won at West in 2025. But the bigger positive for the Titans may not be 56 points put up in a win last week over Bay City Central but the 35 scored in a Week 1 loss to Howell. Grand Blanc has two straight shutouts but must be ready for another challenge on that side of the ball.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Kingsley (3-0) at Grayling (2-1), Midland Bullock Creek (2-1) at Ogemaw Heights (3-0), Johannesburg-Lewiston (2-1) at Frankfort (2-1), Traverse City St. Francis (1-2) at Maple City Glen Lake (2-1)
Southeast & Border
Tecumseh (3-0) at Chelsea (3-0)
Tecumseh has reached 40 points scored in all three of its games, which is more than it did either of the entire 2024 or 2025 seasons. A win over Chelsea would be a first since 2022, when Tecumseh put together a perfect regular season, and this is the team’s best start since that fall. Chelsea also has strung together an impressive first three weeks with the Bulldogs’ most recent win over Adrian a rematch of last year’s Southeastern Conference White title decider and the Week 1 victory over Harper Woods one that will be referenced all fall.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Jonesville (2-1) at Brooklyn Columbia Central (3-0), Saline (3-0) at Dexter (2-1), Adrian Madison (3-0) at Hudson (3-0), Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard (3-0) at Jackson Lumen Christi (3-0), Hanover-Horton (2-1) at Napoleon (3-0).
Southwest Corridor
Edwardsburg (3-0) at Paw Paw (3-0)
Paw Paw has won this Wolverine Conference rivalry game three straight seasons but also finished runner-up in the league to Niles the last three years. The Red Wolves downed Niles 42-14 last week, making them potential frontrunners in the conference unless Edwardsburg spoils that plan. Paw Paw has been impressive giving only 28 points total against teams that went a combined 21-10 a year ago. But the Eddies are ripping through yards again like during their best years, topping 50 points twice already after not doing so once all of last season.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Berrien Springs (3-0) at Buchanan (3-0), Battle Creek Harper Creek (3-0) at Marshall (3-0), Kalamazoo Central (2-1) at Portage Central (2-1), Constantine (2-1) at Schoolcraft (3-0), Quincy (3-0) at Union City (3-0).
Upper Peninsula
Calumet (3-0) at Menominee (3-0)
This game sets up identically as last season’s matchup, won by Menominee 25-15 on the way to claiming the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference Copper title. The Maroons have won their games by 54, 30 and 50 points so far, but Calumet should bring that average down especially after giving up only 24 points over its first three victories. A win over Menominee would be the Copper Kings’ first since the 2021 District Semifinals.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Negaunee (2-1) at Kingsford (3-0), Iron Mountain (1-2) at L’Anse (2-1), Petoskey (2-1) at Escanaba (1-2). SATURDAY Cadillac (2-1) at Marquette (1-2).
West Michigan
Ludington (2-1) at Fremont (3-0)
Fremont is staring down a potential first winning season since 2013 and after earning a combined three victories over the last two. They avenged last year’s 56-0 loss to Whitehall with a 32-19 win in Week 2 and with 24 more points will equal their scoring output for all of last year. Enter Ludington, which won the 2025 matchup 49-0 and the West Michigan Conference Lakes title during a perfect regular season. The Orioles graduated a significant senior class in the spring and opened with a loss to Coopersville, but have bounced back with a pair of close wins.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Grand Rapids West Catholic (2-1) at Ada Forest Hills Eastern (3-0), Grand Rapids South Christian (2-1) at Hudsonville Unity Christian (2-1), Middleville Thornapple Kellogg (3-0) at Holland Christian (2-1), East Kentwood (3-0) at Grand Haven (2-1).
8-Player
Mio (3-0) at Mendon (3-0)
Mio has strung together two straight playoff seasons and charged into this one impressively, already avenging one of its two 2025 losses by downing Hillman 30-16 in Week 2. The Thunderbolts now have the opportunity to test themselves against one of the annual elite, as Mendon is a combined 20-3 over the last two years and averaging 51 points per game during this early going despite replacing the leading scorer in MHSAA 8-player history.
Keep an eye on these FRIDAY Climax-Scotts (3-0) at Colon (3-0), Ishpeming (2-1) at Crystal Falls Forest Park (3-0), Pickford (3-0) at St. Ignace (3-0). SATURDAY Norway (3-0) at Lake Linden-Hubbell (3-0).
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PHOTO An Ada Forest Hills Eastern ball carrier attempts to hold off a Flint Elite defender during FHE’s Week 3 win. (Photo by Michigan Sports Photo.)