California three-sport standout on verge of possible historic third title

Video: Marquel Johnson highlights
See some clips of California's do-it-all athlete, gunning for a third title this season.

St. Patrick-St. Vincent (Vallejo, Calif.) three-sport athlete Marquel Johnson aspires to be a doctor one day.

"I like to set the bar high," he said.

He proved that by telling fellow players, coaches — basically anyone who would listen — that he planned to help bring the Bruins three championships his senior year. Not just league titles, but "As-far-as-you-can-go titles," he said. "I said we will not lose our last game."

He's proving to be prophetic.

With Johnson largely leading the way, SPSV won first-ever school state championships in football (Division 6-A) and boys basketball (Division IV). On Saturday, the 13th-seeded Bruins (17-4-1) will go after their second North Coast Section Division IV baseball crown when they play No. 3 St. Joseph Notre Dame-Alameda (19-8) 4 p.m. at Diablo Valley College.

That's as far as baseball seasons go in California.

Even though he hasn't played the sport since the eighth grade (he also came out six games late due to a basketball run), the 5-foot-10, 160-pound infielder is hitting .520 with 22 steals, 16 RBIs and a .615 on-base percentage.

All of this after he was named Tri-County League Rock Division Player of the Year in football and averaged better than 13 points per game in basketball.

"It's all been pretty great and pretty crazy," Johnson said. "One more win and I'll officially back up what I set out to do. It would be nice to pay back St. Joseph too. They beat us in basketball."

Individual accomplishments aside — he had 12 interceptions from his safety spot in football to go along with 70 catches, 1,700 yards and 10 touchdowns as a receiver — leading two teams to state titles and another as far as it can go in a single school season might be unprecedented in California.

Mark Tennis, a writer and editor for Cal-Hi Sports for almost four decades, said he couldn't remember such a feat. He quickly noted that Serra (Gardena), led by Adoree' Jackson, won a host of state titles over a two-year spell starting in 2012.

No research has uncovered the combination of titles Johnson could achieve with a win Saturday.

"With more divisions in football we're going to see more firsts like this," Tennis said. "The thing that's even more special about Marquel is that none of his teams were slam dunks going into the postseason to win the titles. They had to work for it. And Marquel is a really significant player on all three teams. He's not riding the bench."

But he's certainly not a one-man team either.

"We have a lot of guys who grew up together in the area and we've always had a lot of success," Johnson said. "We've also had really good coaches and some great support systems."

Johnson's individual success is even more impressive considering he missed almost his entire junior year with a torn ACL endured in the third game of the 2015 football season.

After attending and being a key contributor on the basketball team at Salesian (Richmond) for two years, Johnson transferred to SPSV that year and decided to try out for football. "I had played flag football and the coaches at school had always asked me to play," he said. "I just decided to try it."

In three games he garnered college attention, which inspired him to give it another whirl as a senior. It helped that his father Tonmar Johnson played college football at Eastern New Mexico. His mother Sarah Thompson was also a fine all-around athlete at Alhambra (Martinez).

He's torn what to pursue athletically after Saturday. He'd love to follow his dad and play college football. But he's shown great potential in baseball. Basketball has always been his No. 1 sport.

Johnson is considering walking on to the Utah football team or playing multiple sports at Modesto Junior College.

"I'll consider all that stuff after (Saturday's) game," Johnson said. "One big thing I've learned this year is that you have to be focused and in the moment."

Johnson is now the focus of many. 

"He's had a magical year that's for sure," Tennis said. "I have to admit, I didn't know much about him when the school year began. Now he might be the answer to a pretty significant trivia question."