St. Rita senior running back Brandon Johnson Jr. rarely goes down on the first hit, and on Friday night he proved it in dramatic fashion. At the start of the third quarter, he dragged eight Buffalo Grove defenders 20 yards down the field.
"I love the contact," Johnson said. "I'm definitely taking souls out of the game and not going down with just one arm. I'm going to do my spin move, push through and keep rolling my feet."
Johnson finished with 174 yards on 22 carries and three touchdowns as the host Mustangs beat the Bison 36-10 in a Class 7A first-round playoff game in Chicago. St. Rita improved to 7-3 and will travel to Downers Grove North (9-1) in the second round next weekend.
Johnson opened the scoring late in the first quarter with a 7-yard run, after carrying the ball seven times for 51 yards in that stretch. Senior running back Doniven Campbell added a 60-yard touchdown run, and senior receiver Vinny Stubitsch caught a 52-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback John Fennell.
Campbell said the team leans on Johnson's physical style. "Brandon's a big guy who takes it down for us every time," he said. "We depend on him to get the job done." Campbell described his own approach more simply: "I try to beat them with my speed."
Stubitsch said Johnson's impact was evident from the start. "As soon as summer practices started freshman year, I knew Brandon was going to be the guy," he said. "He has a fantastic work ethic. People feed off of him."
At 5-foot-11 and 204 pounds, Johnson wears down opponents, and he tends to get stronger as his carry count rises. A Lindenwood commit and three-year starter, he helped St. Rita reach last year's Class 7A state championship game, where the team lost to Brother Rice. He will graduate in January to begin his college career.
That loss still motivates him. "This team is definitely battle tested," Johnson said. "We have a lot of grit and a lot of focus. Now, I want to do it for the guys who are never going to play football again."
Johnson is not related to the Chicago mayor of the same name, though his father is also named Brandon Johnson. He called his father his best friend and his mother his backbone, and said his younger brother "is going to be great at football." Johnson started playing at age 4 and said he has always been a competitor, whether in board games, video games or football.
His time at St. Rita is now measured in weeks, and he said the farewell will be emotional. "I'm so grateful I made the decision to come to this school," he said. "They stood for me when I needed them."
