Lafayette Christian quarterback Ju'Juan Johnson isn't afraid of the spotlight.
"He thrives in the big game. The big situation to make a play for us", says offensive coordinator, Hunter Landry.
The Knights called Johnson's number in his freshman season where he would start for a handful of games.
"It was the first game of the season against Acadiana, the biggest school that we were going to face that year", says Johnson. "It was crazy honestly."
At the end of the 2020 season, he was a state champion.
In his sophomore campaign, Johnson earned the starting job.
The dual-threat quarterback gained the district offensive MVP while throwing for more than 2,500 yards and nearly 30 total touchdowns and led LCA to their 5th straight championship appearance.
"It was fantastic honestly. It was a great season. I feel like I was more prepared than my freshman year and I learned the playbook easier so it was just a good time."
Johnson witnessed being a champion on the field but adversity off the field that fueled that fire.
Johnson's mother, Tamica, suffered from kidney failure.
"If i could face it in life, i could face it on the field. Its life and you still got to keep going and still got to keep pushing and i feel that's what help me most on the football field."
Tamica's illness forced Johnson in and out of foster care. That was until his uncle, Jerry, took him in.
"My mom always wanted to be my mom and my dad but she could only be my mom", says Johnson. "I just needed a father figure and he stepped in, coached me hard and loved me and it was just good from there."
"His guardian Jerry Mitchell has been with us and been apart of our program since we got to LCA in 2016 in various roles whether its junior high and helping with high school", says Knights' head coach, Trev Faulk.
Johnson's goal is to make his family proud and he's already doing that as he currently has offers from top programs such as LSU, Alabama and Texas A&M to play defensive back.
"He probably has a legit chance to play at some big time school on the defensive side but he knows that right now maybe this team needs him as an offensive weapon", says Landry.
With two more seasons to go, Johnson can only get better with time.
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