HARRISONBURG – James Madison junior running back Cardon Johnson will not play again this season due to an Achilles injury, coach Mike Houston said Tuesday after the team’s practice.

Johnson, who hadn’t practiced in the last few weeks, tried to play through the injury as long as he could, Houston said.

In nine games, he rushed for 704 yards and eight touchdowns on 114 carries.

“He has probably pushed it beyond the limits most people would push it,” Houston said. “He would do whatever we asked him to do. If we asked him to go out there and try to play this week, he’d go try to play.”

Fourth-seeded JMU hosts New Hampshire in the second round of the FCS Playoffs Saturday.

“It’s just gotten to a point where he’s not able to go out there and be productive,” Houston said. “He has made the decision and we have made the decision with him. We support him to go get fixed and get back for spring practice.”

Johnson did not play in JMU’s last two regular-season games and in the two weeks before that, against Rhode Island and at Richmond, he was limited. He scored two touchdowns on three carries against the Rams and managed just 30 yards on eight carries against the Spiders.

Without Johnson, the Dukes will elevate sophomore Trai Sharp and junior Taylor Woods to play behind starter Khalid Abdullah.

Abdullah, a first-team All-Colonial Athletic Association choice has 1,300 rushing yards and 17 rushing touchdowns this season.

Sharp ran for 80 yards and a rushing touchdown and had a receiving touchdown in the season-finale win over Elon. Woods played out of the wildcat-quarterback position against Elon too. Woods has five rushing touchdowns this season.