Backyard Brawl: York County stars to face off in NCAA football rivalry game on national TV
Dallastown's Kenny Johnson and York High's Jahiem White played a pair of legendary football games against each other in high school.
Now they're set to face off for the first time in college this weekend.
The former YAIAA superstars will participate in the 106th Backyard Brawl — the historic rivalry game between Pittsburgh and West Virginia. The game is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday evening at West Virginia and will be televised on ABC. It can be streamed on fuboTV.
It remains to be seen how much Johnson and White play, but both have already gotten on the field as true freshmen. A 6-foot-2 wide receiver, Johnson has played in both of Pitt's games and caught two passes for 17 yards in an opening week win over Wofford.
And White had a breakout game last week. While the 5-foot-7 running back surprisingly didn't play opening night against Penn State and Central York's Beau Pribula — it turned out he was battling minor injuries — he rushed 12 times for 110 yards and his first collegiate touchdown in a 56-17 win over Duquesne last week. He also caught one pass for 6 yards.
He showcased his well-known explosiveness with a 39-yard run which he followed up by streaking 19 yards on his touchdown gallop.
"He's coming along faster than I did," Mountaineers sophomore running back Jaylen Anderson said when asked about White this week. "He's going to be more dangerous early on than I was. I think he's going to be special."
Both Pitt and West Virginia are 1-1 this season. The longtime rivals played annually until 2012, when the Big East Conference dissolved with Pitt joining the ACC and West Virginia jumping to the Big 12. The schools renewed the rivalry with a four-game series starting last season and running through 2025.
In high school, Johnson and White often saved their best performances for their games against each other. As juniors, they seemed to be trying to top each other in a 36-20 York High win. White rushed 19 times for 274 yards and four touchdowns, and Johnson caught eight passes for 192 yards. Johnson drew multiple pass interference calls as a swarm of York High defenders kept desperately clinging to him whenever the ball was thrown his way.
Offensive bonanza: White, Johnson explode as YAIAA football teams combine for 115 points
And they topped that game last year. York High beat Dallastown 66-49 in a Saturday afternoon thriller. White rushed for 417 yards and six touchdowns and returned an interception for another score. Johnson caught nine passes for 103 yards and three touchdowns while taking a kick back 76 yards for a score.
At the time, they were already thinking about this year's Backyard Brawl.
"Next year the hype's around that," Johnson said last season. "When we get together, we know what each other is going to do. So it's super fun going out to play him."
Matt Allibone is a sports reporter for GameTimePA. He can be reached at 717-881-8221, mallibone@ydr.com or on Twitter at @bad2theallibone.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Pitt vs.West Virginia football: Jahiem White, Kenny Johnson face off
