Howie Johnson is the big man on campus at Forest Lake. Quite literally, standing at 6-4 and 260 pounds.

The senior defensive lineman caught the eyes of Gopher coaches for both his size and his stats. In his sophomore and junior seasons combined, he totaled more than 160 tackles and entered the 2025 season with 69 career tackles for loss.

“This isn’t all just raw talent. This is a lot of hard work,” said Johnson, a Star Tribune All-Minnesota Football selection last season. “This is a lot of time spent behind the curtains working and game planning. There’s more than just ‘Go roll the balls out and play football.’ ”

Click the video box above to hear more from Howie Johnson and Coach Beeskow.

Shining above all else is the U of M football commit’s character.

“I just love the kid,” Forest Lake head coach Brad Beeskow said. “He’s a good person to be around. You can talk to him about things that aren’t just football. You can talk about life and God, he’s grounded in his faith, and all that good stuff too.”

Johnson channels that “good stuff” on the field, where he leads the undefeated Rangers in tackles for loss (10) and sacks (4.0). That output extends beyond what fans see on Friday nights.

“That’s showing up to the weight room, that’s doing team activities, that’s helping all of these guys around me get better at their sport and picking each other up,” Johnson said.

Johnson hopes those efforts produce a state title, which would be a first for the program.