CLOSER LOOK: Cajon’s Philander Lee
Take a closer look at San Bernardino Cajon senior Philander Lee and you’ll see a big smile and a very powerful individual.
Lee rushed for the season’s first touchdown – a direct snap from 8 yards out – and wreaked havoc at the line of scrimmage on defense for the Cowboys (1-0 overall, 0-0 Citrus Belt League), who opened 2022 with a shutout victory over Fontana Jurupa Hills on Friday, Aug. 26.
The 6-foot-3, 255-pound defensive end had two sacks and 12 total tackles in the blowout win. Lee’s coming off a 2021 where he had 33 total tackles and was among team leaders with nine tackles for loss.
We think he’s next in a growing line of dominant defenders sprouting at Cajon, and will be a monster in the middle for Cajon, which has its sights on doing more in the CIF-SS playoffs this year.
We caught up with Lee walking off the field after Cajon’s 34-0 win over Jurupa Hills, and even though we spent less than 1 minute with him as he hurried to the locker room, he was ready to talk.
InlandFieldhouse.com: How’s it feel to get the first one?
Philander Lee, Jr.: “It feels great. The touchdown? Well, I’m running gassers for that one. The win? We love it. It feels great. Home crowd was meh but we’re going to turn it up next week.”
IF: Why you going to run gassers or the touchdown?
PJ: “You didn’t see me? Coach didn’t like that (celebration dance).”
IF: This is the first Cajon vs. Jurupa Hills matchup. What’d you think of Jurupa Hills?
PJ: “Yeah, first time. We’ve been asking them for games but they’d never give it to us. Not bad for the first time.”
IF: Are you going to score more touchdowns this season?
PJ: “For sure! For sure going to get some more touchdowns.”
INLAND FIELDHOUSE 