Football Player of the Week: Metuchen's Kyle Johnston takes the Week 5 award

For Metuchen coach Jordan Leitner, it’s not about whether a player is fast or strong or has top technique. Rather, it’s if he’s savvy and simply does what’s necessary to help the team.

In other words, just like Kyle Johnston, a senior defensive end and offensive lineman.

“As much as it’s worth, in my opinion the biggest compliment you can give to a player is simply describing them as a ‘football player’,” Leitner said. “That’s exactly what Kyle is. Kyle has started varsity since a sophomore, and has changed positions a couple of times. I truly only like doing that with players that I can trust to handle it. From middle, to outside backer, then to defensive end, Kyle took it in stride.

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“Kyle can truly play any position on the field. A big reason as to why he can do this, is how he handles himself in the classroom. He also seems to make plays when the teams needs it the most. To sum it up, Kyle is a special player, but more importantly a special young man and his future is extremely bright.”

Readers voted Johnston as the MyCentralJersey.com’s Big Central Conference Readers’ Choice Football Player of the Week for his performance in Week 5.

Johnston got nearly 15,000 votes, or 61 percent of the total cast for his efforts. He had nine tackles to bolster the Bulldogs’ defense in a 29-0 win over Highland Park in their rivalry game.

“As well as him being a true ‘lead by example’ guy, he speaks when he feels the need to,” Leitner said, “but he’d rather talk to his game. Every successful program needs players like Kyle.”

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Football Player of the Week: Metuchen's Kyle Johnston takes the Week 5 award