Johnson is facing more double teams than ever, and yet he’s on pace for his best season ever by a wide margin. And he’s doing it against a murderer’s row of offensive lines. He’s not the biggest guy, but he holds up well at the point of attack, and he’s relentless in the backfield. He’ll have plenty of opportunities late in the playoffs, so expect to hear his name.

Antoine, or Sam as he goes by to most people, was another reason why Mallard Creek did not find much success running up the middle of the defense, as his penetration and presence kept his linebackers free to roam and make plays all over the field. Sam did have a nice tackle for loss, though, where he was in the backfield as soon as a handoff occurred, and he was able to make a nice play for the Lions defense.

Johnson plays bigger than his size and flashes the ability to bully offensive linemen with power. His recruitment took a bit longer to get underway, but since the end of January, he’s picked up several offers, mostly from Group of Five schools. He’s developing a secondary pass-rushing move, which will help in the future, but for now, his flashes are among the best in the state.

Antoine, better known as Sam, is starting to really blow up now coming off of being a defensive line anchor for the state champion Lions. I have been a fan of his for a long time due to his overall strength and run stuffing ability in the middle of the defensive line. Sam being a rock in the middle allows the speed of the Lions linebackers and defensive backs to flow freely and cause havoc all over the football field. Sam picked up his first two offers from Johnson C Smith and Troy Universities, and he’s coming off a strong season statistically with 78 tackles and 13 sacks. Proud to have him on this Junior Bowl team.

The big interior defensive lineman showed off his strength in shutting down the running game of Cox Mill. He dominated his matchups, consistently getting backfield penetration, forcing Cox Mill to abandon the interior running game, limiting them to jet sweeps, quarterback runs, and the passing game. I also liked how Antoine used his hands in shedding blocks and pursuing plays in general.

Antoine is a returning All-Conference player for the Lions who I wrote about in the spring. The Lions have a lot of overall team speed on their defense, but Johnson might be one of their most important pieces. His presence doesn’t allow teams to simply line up and run right at West Charlotte to try and neutralize the speed they have. I would love to see Antoine add a pass rush to his strong run stopping ability – that would not only push him higher in our rankings, but it would generate even more recruiting interest for him as a 3-down defensive lineman.