CAMERON — Johnny Alexander isn’t going to volunteer information on how he’s feeling or what he’s thinking. He might not even privilege anyone to those details if he’s asked on the most picturesque spring day with his favorite food sitting in front of him.
More often than not, opponents realize too late the kind of mood the Cameron Yoe senior safety is in on Friday nights under the lights when it gets loud, as in pads-on-pads loud. It’s Alexander’s favorite way to make noise.
“On the field, the perfect name I would give him is the silent assassin because you know he’s a quiet person, but his presence is felt out there,” cousin and Yoe running back Traion Smith said.
Quiet is an understatement when it comes to describing Alexander. He’s stoic, not somber but aloof by choice. His mother, Tani Bynum, said Alexander is observant. Always has been. Smith swears that if provoked enough by a topic of interest, Alexander will divulge in discussion. Quarterback Jacob Smitherman, who sits with Alexander at lunch, said he’s seen it happen, too.
“I don’t know where he got that from,” Smith said. “Because when you look at most of the family, we are talkative people. He’s just been that laid back person. But don’t let him fool you because sometimes he’ll talk and talk.”
Football, for example, is one ticket to conversationville, though it might be a brief visit. The Ohio State Buckeyes also might work.
The only way Yoe coach Rick Rhoades is completely assured if Alexander has digested the game plan is during the contest when Alexander makes the routine plays as well as the spectactacular.
“He’s just a great leader for us,” said Rhoades, whose Class 3A fourth-ranked Yoemen (3-1) tangle with Class 2A No. 3 Refugio (3-0) at 7:30 tonight at Yoe Field. “Johnny is usually where he needs to be doing the right thing. You don’t have to worry a whole lot about Johnny. You can count on him, unless you want him to talk, then you have to worry a little bit.”
A select few truly know how Alexander is doing on a day-to-day basis. Bynum is in that group.
“After 17 years, I understand,” Bynum said. “I told him he needs to talk more because he wants to continue his education and become a coach. He likes coaching the kids in flag football and he talks to them.”
Fewer still know that Alexander, the oldest of five siblings, was diagnosed with mucoepidermoid carcinoma at age 5, had one of his salivary glands removed — from the bottom, right portion of his mouth — and went for weekly, monthly and annual checkups until the age of 10. When he was 15, Bynum said the doctors told them that it was unlikely that the cancer would ever return.
The experience hasn’t defined Alexander, who said he doesn’t have any lingering effects of the cancer and can’t remember much at all from the traumatic ordeal. But Bynum certainly does.
“One of the scariest things I’ve had to endure,” she said, adding that there’s always an extra bit of worry when it comes to Alexander’s health. “If he sneezes or coughs, we are going to the doctor.”
One of the best things over the past few years has been watching her son, who also plays basketball and runs track, blossom as a football player.
Alexander served as the junior varsity’s starting running back his sophomore season, when Rhoades began to take stock of the potential. With Smith staking claim as the team’s primary running back heading into their junior season, Alexander’s grit was too much of a commodity to ignore. Rhoades had the ideal spot for him.
“I mean, he’s a really tough kid, a hard-nosed kid. And those are the types of characteristics we look for in our safeties,” said Rhoads, who got Alexander to smile once in a 20-minute span by asking if he likes it when he’s yelled at. “So, last year when we started putting our team together, we started talking about who could play safety for us, and Johnny was one of the first to come to my mind because he plays tough.
Turns out, Alexander preferred defense.
“I don’t like getting hit. I like doing the hitting,” he said. “I just don’t want them to score.”
Alexander averages nine tackles per game, which puts him around fourth on the team with 36 stops. He said he doesn’t pay attention to the statistics and that making a tackle is his way of carrying out the leadership role bestowed upon him as an upperclassman with a state championship ring.
As for Refugio, which defeated Yoe 27-20 last season, Alexander said its rushing attack is what the defense will key on in tonight’s game, which will be featured as the DQ Game of the Week.
“I got to step up and be able to tackle,” he said.
He won’t have to be told twice to do so.
