LCA QB, LSU football commit Ju'Juan Johnson shows new element to game in win v. Avoyelles
Anytime Ju'Juan Johnson takes the field, there's not much left to the imagination for opposing defenses.
The Lafayette Christian senior star quarterback and LSU football commit is one of the more prolific athletes on the field in any game and it's hard to miss him.
But LCA coach Hunter Landry and Johnson divulged a different wrinkle to Johnson's game in the Knights' 52-14 win over Avoyelles, at Knight Stadium on Friday night.
On the Mustangs' second punt, Johnson trotted out there to field it. The return started off rocky as Johnson muffed it, but he snatched the ball up off the bounce. As Avoyelles player after player raced to him, he broke an immediate tackle, then reversed field and at that point, no one was going to catch him as he sprinted 50 yards to the end zone.
"I was kind of nervous, my heart was racing a little bit," Johnson laughed and said of his first punt return attempt. "But it was set up great and blocked great by the punt team to allow me to score.
"But it's definitely something I can see me doing in the future."
The touchdown didn't stand, as offsetting penalties called the play back. But the collective ooohs and ahhhs from the fans show there's still more to discover with Johnson, who said he lobbied Knights coach Hunter Landry for the opportunity to get in on the punt return.
"We want to put the guys in that give us the best chance to win and obviously he brings another dynamic to the game, so we wanted to see what he would do in that spot," Landry said. "I think he did a decent job at it.
"It was just something we wanted to mess around with and give us another option."
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At LSU, Johnson is projected to play cornerback, which he's played some with the Knights before when needed. But Johnson said that he's had conversations with LSU coaches about the prospect of him fielding punts in Baton Rouge.
"LSU and I talked about it. It's something we see in the future but I just got to keep getting better at it," Johnson said.
In his more recognized role, the LCA QB took the lid off the Mustangs defense all night, throwing for five touchdowns to five different pass catchers (Brayden Allen, T.J. Marzell, Carlos O'Brien, Jalen Noel and Trae Grogan).
Johnson finished the game 11-of-13 for 239 yards and added 27 yards rushing.
"Ju'Juan's the type that if he trusts you, he'll give you the ball. He's not locked in on one receiver," Landry said. "He's a quarterback that reads the whole field, taking what defenses give him. At receiver, we roll out five or six guys that make plays for us. I think they did a good job tonight."
Update of Texas football commit Melvin Hills III
Hills, the four-star Texas commit, didn't suit up for the Knights on Friday night. Landry told The Daily Advertiser following Friday's game that Hills was fine and that he was held out of the game against Avoyelles due to "something happening at Ruston" last Friday.
But he's not expected to miss any more time.
"He'll be good to go next week," Landry said.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LCA QB Ju'Juan Johnson displays new dimension in win over Avoyelles
