Nationally ranked Folsom heads up this year's crop of Sac-Joaquin Section powers, but the Bulldogs will be challenged by the likes of defending state champion Granite Bay.
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
High school football season is here, and the 197-member Sac-Joaquin Section again promises to have an entertaining season with top teams sprinkled across the large schools to the small ones.
From as far north as Grass Valley to as far east as Placerville to the west in Vacaville and Napa to the south in the heart of the 209 country with Modesto, Merced, Escalon and Atwater, the section looks strong from top to bottom.
MaxPreps Sac-Joaquin Section Preseason Top 25 Football Rankings1. Folsom (14-1 last season)Opener: vs. Woodcreek (Roseville), Aug. 30
The Bulldogs stormed to a 14-0 start last season, drew De La Salle (Concord) in the first NorCal Open game at Sacramento State, and fell 48-14. Fifteen starters return, better for the experience, for Folsom,
nationally ranked No. 19 by MaxPreps and headed by QB
Jake Browning (63 TDs).
2. Granite Bay (13-3 last season)Opener: vs. No. 1 Folsom, Sept. 7
Tony Ellison, Granite Bay
Photo by Heston Quan
A new era dawns for the Grizzlies of Placer County with longtime off-and-on assistant coach Skip Albano taking over as the head man in place of the retired Ernie Cooper. The defending CIF State Division I champions return anchor defenders on defense in LB's
Dylan Keeney and
Cameron Smith and DB
Luke Bussey and Fly back
Tony Ellison.
3. Del Oro (Loomis) (7-6 last season)Opener: vs. Logan (Union City), Aug. 30
The Golden Eagles have won two Sac-Joaquin Section titles and reached the CIF State D-II bowl since 2010 and they target another title run with the best offensive line in coach Casey Taylor's 12 years at the helm, including TE
Tyler Meteer and OL/DL
Tanner Woods.
4. St. Mary's (Stockton) (9-3 last season)Opener: at Stockdale (Bakersfield), Aug. 30
The Rams have been a section force for years, and will be again this season under coach Tony Franks, who returns QB
Kaleb Parrish and WRs
Brian Pasqual and
Jalen Ratliff. The schedule is again daunting, including No. 3 Del Oro, which bounced the Rams in the playoffs in 2009 and again last season, and a matchup with MaxPreps national No. 1 De La Salle.
5. Elk Grove (12-2 last season)Opener: vs. No. 13 Lincoln (Stockton), Aug. 30
The Thundering Herd is 24-3 the past two seasons under mainstays in QB
Tommy Arnold, RB/LB
Wadus Parker and DE/WR
B'Won Canada. All are seniors who want to another shot at Folsom, the team that has bounced the Herd the last two postseasons.
6. Pleasant Grove (Elk Grove) (7-5 last season)Opener: at No. 8 Rocklin, Aug. 30
The Eagles have quickly come of age as a "newer" program under coach Joe Cattolico, and they are again a swift, quick, athletic lot with QB
Deaundre Terrell, WR
Wyatt Demps and DB
Brandon Lewis.
7. Central Catholic (Modesto) (14-2 last season)Opener: at Placer (Auburn), Aug. 30
Spencer Stark, Central Catholic
Photo by Mark Bahrenfuss
The Raiders lost a ton to graduation, but when has this program ever really dipped? The Raiders have won a section-best 16 blue banners, and they won a CIF State title last season, too. The lines are again strong, headed by
Spencer Stark.
8. Rocklin (5-6 last season)Opener: vs. Pleasant Grove (Elk Grove), Aug. 30
The Thunder reached the CIF State Bowl in 2009 and hail from the same Sierra Foothill League that includes Granite Bay and Del Oro. QB
Logan Webb and a physical defense lead the way.
9. Oak Ridge (El Dorado Hills) (12-2 last season)Opener: vs. No. 16 Vista del Lago (Folsom), Aug. 30
The Trojans have been a factor since they fielded their first varsity team 30 years ago, and the Delta River League is formidable with Folsom and Pleasant Grove, too.
Jacob Sipes can play QB, WR, DB, K and P.
10. Burbank (Sacramento) (12-1 last season)Opener: vs. No. 11 Napa, Aug. 30
The Titans aim to race past teams with their triple-option offense behind QB
Ernest Jenkins and RB
Calvin Green and to stop foes with DT
Feaumoengalu (Ngalu) Tapa (23.5 sacks in 2012).
11. Napa (7-4 last season)Opener: at No. 10 Burbank (Sacramento), Aug. 30
The Indians are the Monticello Empire League favorite, thanks to the offensive line that returns intact, headed by Washington State commit
Braden Eggert. Burbank opener is telling.
12. Merced (7-4 last season)Opener: vs. Clovis West (Fresno), Aug. 30
The Bears were a section power in the late 1980s and into the early '90s and covet another playoff run after a good summer showing with QB
Tyrone Williams and three talented runners, including
Bryce Bernat.
13. Lincoln (Stockton) (8-4 last season)Opener: at No. 5 Elk Grove, Aug. 30
The Trojans lost two all-time program greats, QB Zac Greenlee to Fresno State and RB Justin Davis to USC, but this remains one of the power programs in the southern part of the section. The early schedule is a grinder.
14. Buhach Colony (Atwater) (10-3 last season)Opener: vs. San Ramon Valley (Danville), Aug. 30
The Thunder live to run foes into the ground with a bevy of backs, and the Central California Conference could come down to BC and Merced. BC has gone 34-5 the past three seasons under coach Kevin Swartwood, a coach for those famed Merced teams of the late '80s.
15. Grant (Sacramento) (5-6 last season)Opener: at Paradise, Aug. 30
Deondre Grays, Grant
Photo by Anthony Brunsman
The Pacers sputtered last season amid injuries but still reached the postseason a section-record 22nd consecutive season.This will be the youngest team veteran coach Mike Alberghini has fielded, with as many as 17 underclassmen starters, but there is speed and power, headed by RB
Deondre Grays.
16. Vista del Lago (Folsom) (11-2 last season)Opener: at No. 9 Oak Ridge, Aug. 30
The Eagles fell to Oakdale in the section D-III finals last fall and return a wealth of talent, including QB
Matt Jimison and RB
Josh Pfeffer for first-year coach Mike Struebing.
17. Cosumnes Oaks (Elk Grove) (9-3 last season)Opener: at Roseville, Aug. 30
The Wolfpack feature the section's top senior skill player recruit in WR
Alex Van Dyke Jr., a QB in
Alex Kropp and a OT in
Kameron Schroeder in eying a Sierra Valley Conference title rematch with Vista del Lago (won by Vista).
18. Inderkum (Sacramento) (10-3 last season)Opener: at Monterey Trail (Sacramento), Aug. 30
The Tigers had their five-year stranglehold of the Tri-County League end to Yuba City, but they return the most speed and experience with wing-T leader QB
C. J. Spencer.
19. Vacaville (8-4 last season)Opener: vs. Valley Christian (San Jose), Sept. 6
The Bulldogs have been a playoff factor since the 1970s, first under famed/late coach Tom Zunino and in recent years under his son-in-law Mike Papadopulos, who will usher in a 10-0 JV team with returners in WR/DB
David Mewborn and DL
Jeramy Sweany.
20. Franklin (Elk Grove) (12-1 last season)Opener: vs. Atwater, Aug. 30
The Wildcats return no starters on offense and only one full-time starter on defense in LB
Joey Banks, but this is a school used to winning with fast, skilled players under coach Mike Johnson. They'll rebound just fine.
21. Los Banos (11-2 last season)Opener: at No. 25 Escalon, Aug. 30
The Tigers have been a smaller-school power for decades, and there's a generational gap theme brewing with RB
David Walker, whose father by the same name played for Los Banos years ago. DL
Joshua Priest is as tough a stopper as there is in the section.
22. Antelope (10-2 last season)Opener: at Del Campo (Fair Oaks), Aug. 30
Tyler McCombs, Antelope
Photo by Gary Jones
The Titans have come of age quickly under coach Matt Ray, including beating Rocklin in a playoff opener in 2012. QB
Tyler McCombs is back after tossing 24 touchdowns as the program seeks its third league title in four years.
23. Del Campo (Fair Oaks) (9-3 last season)Opener: vs. Antelope, Aug. 30
The Cougars will again play smash-mouth ball with a bruising run game behind RB
Austin Brown (21 touchdowns) in what could produce another Capital Valley Conference showdown with Rio Linda (won by DC last season).
24. Rio Linda (8-3 last season)Opener: at Roseville, Sept. 6
The Knights are loaded on defense, perhaps the best unit in school history, with LB
Leonard Skattebo and DB
Keenan Hunt. Both play on offense as a FB and WR, respectively.
25. Escalon (11-3 last season)Opener: vs. No. 21 Los Banos, Aug. 30
As long as Mark Loureiro is around as coach, the Cougars will contend with the wing-T, and pull upsets, such as beating 11-0 Placer in the playoffs last season.
Joe Davidson has covered high school sports at The Sacramento Bee since 1988. Follow him on Twitter @SacBee_JoeD and on www.sacbee.com.See the Sacramento Bee's Sac-Joaquin Section Top 20
