You can't bring him down! DJ Lisbon a force in St. John the Baptist's win over Fordham Prep

To say trying to tackle DJ Lisbon is a tough task would be an understatement.

The 6-4, 190-pound receiver for St. John the Baptist was never tackled by a single Fordham Prep defender on Saturday. On the rare occasion Fordham Prep was able to bring Lisbon down, it took at least three or four players to tackle him. One of the most common conclusions was Lisbon standing aside teammates in celebration following a touchdown as host St. John the Baptist defeated Fordham Prep, 35-7, in a CHSAA football matchup.

“Every opportunity is a good opportunity to score,” said Lisbon, who had seven receptions for 172 yards and two touchdowns. “My linemen did a great job projecting my quarterback so he can get me the ball, so I can get to the outside and score touchdowns. You have to do everything you can to score and that comes from hard work and dedication with the team.”

Lisbon broke his first of many tackles when he turned a 5-yard catch into a 44-yard touchdown after escaping a defender’s wrap and scampering down the left sideline to give the Cougars a 7-0 lead on the third play of the game. 

“I feel like it was a statement,” Lisbon said. “Last week we didn’t have a good game, this week we showed up and presented ourselves.”

The junior struck again with 10:39 left in the second quarter when he broke three tackles at the line of scrimmage off a screen pass before scoring an 80-yard touchdown to give St. John the Baptist (1-1) a 28-0 lead.

“He has that warrior mentality where every time he touches the football, it’s him against an army,” said offensive coordinator James Alba, the son of head coach Phil Alba. “And he’s going to win most of those battles.”

Instead of taking the credit, Lisbon praised the offensive line, featuring Nick Almirez, Julian Vitucci, Lee Wehbeh, Alejandro Rivera and RJ Kolman, for making the blocks downfield to spring the touchdown. 

“I saw my line come out and block upfield, so I knew they had my back,” Lisbon said. “I just had to go score and reward them.”

Kevin Pilewski completed 12 of 15 passes for 191 yards and three touchdowns, including a 29-yard TD pass to Chris King. Andrew Simmons rushed 10 times for 86 yards and had a 5-yard touchdown run. Fordham Prep fell to 1-2.

Branden Raines had two tackles for a loss, including a sack on the first series. He also rushed for 53 yards on four carries. Despite being primarily an edge defender, Raines gave the offense a burst in the fourth quarter, breaking multiple tackles, for a 16-yard touchdown with 6:08 left.

“I want to do whatever it takes to help my team win,” Raines said. “If my team needs me on offense, that’s what I want to do to help my team. I just saw the opening and I knew they wouldn’t tackle me."