East Texas Baptist linebacker CJ Johnson spent part of his summer training with pro football players. ETBU athletics photos

CJ Johnson was on vacation in Miami over the summer, and no one had a clue the 6-3, 245-pound East Texas Baptist linebacker was a Division III football player.

He was mistaken for someone who played in the NFL.

“A few people came up to me and asked if I was a pro and wanted my autograph,” Johnson said. “I was like ‘not yet,’ but I’m working on it.”

Johnson’s coach, Scotty Walden, can relate to being mistaken for someone else.

At just 26, it’s hard to imagine him being the head coach of a college football program. Turns out, he’s the youngest in all of NCAA football in that position.

“Age is just a number,” Walden said. “It’s not overwhelming at all for me. My job is to go out and motivate and prepare these young men to be successful. I want to put them in the best position to win every week.”

Walden put his players in that position Saturday as the Tigers stunned nationally ranked Texas Lutheran 44-20 in its season opener. It was East Texas’ first win over the Bulldogs since 2009. Johnson made four tackles. The offense rolled up nearly 500 yards.

“It was a good team win,” Johnson said. “We came out and played hard after grinding through spring ball and summer workouts. It’s a great feeling to start off with a win.”

Johnson is expected to play a pivotal role all season for the Tigers, who have high hopes of repeating as American Southwest Conference champions. They shared the title with Hardin-Simmons and Mary Hardin-Baylor a year ago.

He prepared himself for the season by putting in work at Michael Johnson Performance in Texas, where he had an opportunity to work out with pros, including several NFL players.

“It definitely made me a better player,” Johnson said. “It made me think about the little things more and how different exercises can help you. I feel like I came out of there a whole new person.”

Of course, the person he was last year wasn’t a bad one to be either. In his freshman season with the Tigers, Johnson recorded 55 tackles and earned first-team All-ASC honors. What is perhaps most impressive about his success is that it was his first time on the field since his senior year of high school.

Johnson started out at Tarleton State but red-shirted that year. He didn’t play on a team in his second season and found a home at East Texas, a team that recruited him out of high school.

“Everything happens for a reason,” Johnson said. “I really never knew how much football meant to me until I wasn’t playing it. I had faith I was going to end up somewhere and to produce the way I did last year was great. I was not expecting it to go as well as it did.”

Walden speaks highly of Johnson not only because of the type of athlete he is, but because of the type of person he is as well.

“He is an impressive young man and epitomizes what we want from a student-athlete,” Walden said. “He has a great heart and a million-dollar smile. He is also humble and hard-working, on and off the field, and is unselfish as a teammate.”

At the age of 26, ETBU's Scotty Walden is the youngest head coach in the NCAA.

As for the team, well, a lot is expected of the Tigers. Walden knows there are doubters but is confident in what this team can accomplish this season.

“Some people see us as a one-hit wonder,” Walden said. “We want the pressure and expectations and we are ready to prove we belong.”

Walden, who talked about how he relates well to his players and it can sometimes be easy to forget he is a head coach, has already proven age really is just a number.

There is no reason to think his team can’t prove it’s the best team in the conference as well. Johnson agrees and is focused on helping the Tigers reach the top.

And one day, he may not have to worry about being mistaken as an NFL player because he’ll be one.

“The first thing I’m focused on is helping our team win games, but I’d love to play the next level someday,” Johnson said. “I’m going to work hard to get there and be the best player I can be.”

Wild win for Wash U.

Down 21 points after one quarter, Washington U. rallied for a thrilling 41-34 overtime win over Carnegie Mellon Saturday.

J.J. Tomlin and Matt Page were on the same page when it mattered most, with Page catching a two-point conversion pass that sent the game into overtimeand then making a grab on the game-winning scoring strike in OT. He caught a 29-yard pass on the play, highlighting a memorable day for Page, the quarterback-turned-tight end.

Page made his first start at his new position and made eight catches for 150 yards and two scores. He caught two touchdown passes as well.

Tomlin picked up where he left off a year ago, throwing for 371 yards. His 61 pass attempts are a school record. He completed 35 as the Bears snapped Carnegie Mellon’s seven-game win streak dating back to 2015.

Page is in his senior season and in just his second season of varsity football with the Bears. He played in five games last year as a backup quarterback and was 11-of-22 for 117 yards and two scores.

Tigers survive rally

Trinity led 20-3 over Redlands early and survived a second-half rally for a 34-27 victory. Robert Molina broke up a pass in the end zone on the final drive, another example of Trinity’s strong defense.

Three players finished with 13 or more tackles, with Joshua Cook racking up 14. He also picked off a pass and broke up three passes. Julian Turner tallied 14 tackles in addition to recovering a fumble and Packard racked up 13 tackles and a sack.

And then there was Mitchell Globe, who returned an interception for a touchdown with 1:54 left in the first half. It marks the seventh consecutive year Trinity has scored a defensive touchdown.

The Tigers, hoping to contend for a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference crown this season, allowed 444 yards of offense but were tough against the run, giving up just 59 yards.

Big day for the Blazers

LaMiquell Roberts turned in a performance to remember for Belhaven in its 28-25 win over Millsaps in the Riverside Rumble on Thursday.

Roberts tied a school record with 14 receptions in a game and he racked up 220 receiving yards, which also broke a school record. He caught one touchdown pass and accounted for more than half of the Blazers’ total yardage (420) and helped Belhaven snap a three-game losing streak to the Majors.

The senior out of Alabama was back in action for the first time since 2014 when he caught 49 passes for 627 yards and five touchdowns. In his first year with the Blazers in 2013, he caught 32 passes for 471 yards. He scored five touchdowns that year as well.

Belhaven is already ahead of where it was a year ago at this time when the Blazers fell 52-23 to Millsaps. The Blazers lost their first six games in 2015 and won a total of two games. Thursday’s win marked the first time since 2014 that the Blazers have won a season opener.

Sideline notes

Hendrix rolled past Austin 55-23 Saturday, scoring the most points in a game since putting up 71 in a shutout victory over Missouri Baptist in 1950. Running backs Dayton Winn and Mason Millsap became only the second tandem in school history to rush for more than 100 yards in the same game.

Berry won its first season opener in program history with a stunning 34-33 win over Maryville. The Vikings trailed 26-14 at halftime but thrived off forcing turnovers to secure the win. They forced three fumbles and picked off four passes, including one by Preston Stewart with less than a minute left.

Reese Childress scored three touchdowns and helped Hardin-Simmons blast Southwestern 26-3. Childress caught a total of five passes for 119 yards while the defense limited the Pirates to 222 yards, allowing just 3.1 yards per play.

If you have a great story idea or notable accomplishments that deserve a mention in this column, feel free to reach out to me at brian.lester@d3sports.com. You can also follow on Twitter @BLester1993