Lakes' Njoku Pushes Through Adversity, Aspires For a Football State Championship

Football was the last thing on J.J. Njoku's life for a period of time.

As an 11-year-old living in Kennewick the senior linebacker for Lakes High School fell into a deep depression after his grandmother and grandfather died in a span of a couple months.

He quit sports. He wondered if he'd ever play again. His grandparents were a huge influence in his life. They were a central part of the Njoku family.

"It just killed me inside," Njoku said. "It was really hard mentally. I looked up to them so much."

But standing on his high school's brand new field turf with the orange crush Lancer logo underneath his feat Tuesday evening, Njoku's life has come full circle. As a two-year varsity starter for arguably the toughest defense and most powerful offense in the state, the 5-foot-10-inch senior has shown that perseverance pays.

"I started playing football in the sixth grade," said the 185-pounder. "I fell in love with it again and working hard and getting into good shape."

It wasn't long after his grandparents died when his family pushed him to get back into sports. He and his mom moved to Tacoma to be closer to family.

And all of this might pay off as Njoku and the Lancers have an opportunity of a lifetime. Lakes is ranked No. 2 in th 3A classification with an undefeated record of 10-0.

"We’ve been working four years for this," Njoku said. "We haven’t won a state championship since 1997. We’ve been so close these last four years. I feel like this is our year. Everyone wants it. What better way to go out than with a championship?"

A two-year varsity starter, he and many others still have the taste of defeat in remaining in their mouths. The . The Wolverines beat the Kamiakin Braves 38-0 for their third consecutive state championship.

"I hung pictures in my wall as motivation, he said. "I don't want that feeling anymore."

And similar to trying times when he was younger, he's not giving up on his quest. His team plays the Mountain View Thunder of Vancouver at 7 p.m. tonight.

If the Lancers beat the Thunder tonight, they could avenge last year's loss to the Wolverines with a home game in the quarterinfal round of the state playoffs.

Njoku said neither he nor his team are through with the business at hand.

"Every time I felt like quitting I said no," Njoku said about losing last year to Bellevue. "I can’t let my boys down. I can’t let myself down and I can’t let my family down."