Former Stone High standouts set to collide in Mobile in November
When former Stone Tomcat standout R’Tarriun Johnson joined the Old Dominion football program in 2019, it seemed he had played his final game on the Gulf Coast.
Johnson, a safety, played two seasons at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College before beginning his ODU career and never coming particularly close to playing another football game close to home.
That will change this fall. In the Monarchs first season in the Sun Belt Conference, ODU will be traveling to South Alabama for its final regular season game of the year on Nov. 26.
Mobile is just 90 minutes from Wiggins and it’ll be the closest Johnson has been to home since junior college.
“This is going to be my homecoming game over Thanksgiving break,” Johnson said at Sun Belt media days in New Orleans as one of ODU’s player representatives.
Johnson’s best friend and fellow Stone alum Terrion Avery plays running back for the Jaguars, creating a reunion for the Tomcat community in the pair’s final seasons of college ball.
Johnson says many of their friends and family have already made plans to attend the game.
Old Dominion head coach Ricky Rahne noted his favorite moment of the week was seeing Johnson’s family make the trip to New Orleans Monday night to see him.
“For him to have the opportunity to play in front of his people, that means the world,” Rahne said.
Johnson is entering his fourth season at ODU and is coming off a 91-tackle campaign in 2021. Avery has over 700 career rushing yards at USA since joining the program in 2019.
The Monarchs kick off the season Sept. 2 against Virginia Tech.
This story was originally published July 26, 2022 at 3:03 PM.
