NEWTON – Wow. Just wow.
That was the initial reaction of Newton-Conover rising senior and varsity football player Brandon Johnson when learning the news of him being among the candidates for Sports Illustrated’s All-American selection.
Candidates from North Carolina were officially selected on July 15 which include 55 potential All-Americans. With these many candidates on the SIAA list, North Carolina ranks in fifth-place in the nation. Florida and Texas topped the rankings with 142 and 129 student-athletes, respectively.
Johnson – the 5’10” 170-pound cornerback for the Red Devils’ varsity program – garnered 44 tackles including 32 solo tackles during his junior campaign in 2019. He also recovered a pair of fumbles and collected three interceptions.
On the offensive side of the ball, Johnson was just as good as a receiver as he obtained 495 yards on 32 grabs with four touchdowns (according to MaxPreps).
The Red Devils finished the 2019 season with an 8-5 overall record and a 5-2 South Fork 2A Conference finish (tied for second place with Maiden).
Johnson verbally committed to continue his football career at Duke University on May 6, 2020 (his mother Alanda Johnson’s birthday). He is depicted by 247Sports.com as a three-star player. The site rated him as the No. 46 player from North Carolina from the Class of 2021.
In SI’s All-American candidate evaluation of Johnson, it described him as a prospect who will “seamlessly transition into that invaluable slot corner role. Johnson is physical enough to play run support and his coverage skills are good enough to run and cover the speedster in the slot while handling split out tight ends as well.”
Also in the evaluation, SI mentioned that he “plays the game with a level of relentlessness that you rarely find in corners his size. He’s played a lot of zone coverage and does so well with his eyes towards the quarterback and playing off his instincts.”
Johnson said he also thought initially about how blessed he was to receive recognition from such a huge platform.
“I continue to be inspired by others that may look up to me and by the ones that motivate me,” he said. “I know that in order to keep pushing my game to the next level I have to work every day and not let any of the accolades go to my head.”
As the forthcoming 2020 high school football season looks a bit bleak due to the COVID-19 pandemic – which has already pushed the start of the season back by about a week or so – Johnson said he’s looking to win a South Fork 2A Conference championship, as well as a state championship in his final campaign.
