With so many "What ifs?" and unknowns heading into the shortened California high school football season, it's anyone's guess who things will shake out. The same could be said for creating preseason rankings.
High-profile players leaving high school early to enroll in college, multi-sport athletes opting for baseball and other factors make this season unlike any other.
Still, successful programs have ways of doing things that make them successful and will no doubt adapt to the bizarre circumstances of the 2020 season ... now being played in 2021.
In the Sac-Joaquin Section, the usual suspects are at or near the top, while up-and-comers from last season also see their names in the MaxPreps computer rankings.
Will all these teams be there once the shortened season is finished? Stay tuned.
Prophet Brown, Monterey Trail
File photo by Patrick Pallari
The Trojans fell to Central (Fresno) in last year's 1-AA NorCal bowl game and will be without MaxPreps Junior Player of the Year Justin Lamson, who enrolled early at Syracuse. Still, Eric Cavaliere's bunch is 50-15 over the last five years.
2. Folsom, 10-2Losing a lot to graduation just paves the way for the next wave of Bulldog standouts. Stanford-bound quarterback
Ari Patu and
Kaleb Higgins, a Cal commit, are up next.
3. Whitney (Rocklin), 7-7The Wildcats have MaxPreps All Section linebacker
Austin Hauptman back after a 142-tackle season, but lose senior quarterback Eli Brickhandler, a transfer to Pittsburg.
4. Monterey Trail (Elk Grove), 12-2USC commit
Prophet Brown in back after tallying more than 1,500 all-purpose yards for last year's 12-2 Mustangs squad.
5. Davis, 10-2Senior quarterback
Luke Carrell and running back
Aaron Turner should provide offensive firepower while Delta League Player of the Year and all-section linebacker
Zachary Brooks also returns for the Blue Devils.
6. Escalon, 14-1Quarterback
Ty Harris is back for the Cougars after throwing for nearly 1,900 yards and 22 scores. Escalon opens March 20 with Oakdale.
7. Turlock, 9-3In 2019, the Bulldogs handled the three teams on this year's schedule — Downey, Enochs and Gregori by a combined score of 100-54.
8. Cosumnes Oaks (Elk Grove), 8-4Offensive weapons return for the Wolfpack in quarterback
Anthony Grigsby (2,713 yards passing, 30 TDs) and running back
Christian Ridgway (1,454 yards, nine TDs). Cosumnes Oaks averaged nearly 30 points per game. Cal commit
Moses Oladejo and
Isaiah Bobbitt-Byars (111 tackles) anchor the defense.
9. Rocklin, 7-4The Thunder pulled off a big upset last year with a 28-22 win over Oak Ridge and Jason Adams' Crew looks to keep rolling with quarterback
Richie Watts (1,605 passing, 244 rushing) leading the offense.
10. Ripon, 14-1The Indians head into their four-game spring schedule with a lot of graduation losses, but a ton of experience after a 31-28 4-AA state championship win over Highland.
1
1. Elk Grove, 10-5The Thundering Herd won't venture far from home with Davis the lone game outside of district. Elk Grove loses Carter Harris but three-star running back
Zeke Burnett transfers from Capital Christian.
12. Oakdale, 9-4The Mustangs fell in the section finals, but have a recent history of success including a 2016 state title and two NorCal championships. Zeke Saffar had 200 carries for 1,883 yards and 18 touchdowns last season.
13. Lincoln (Stockton), 9-2The Trojans' youth served them well last year as Arizona-bound running back
Jonah Coleman was the MaxPreps All-Section Sophomore of the Year after running for 1,500-plus yards and 30 scores, while freshman QB
Kenyon Nelson passed for more than 1,000 yards.
14. Capital Christian (Sacramento), 9-3The Cougars lost 1,000-yard rusher Burnett to Elk Grove, but has
Isaiah Bass waiting in the wings.
15. Placer (Auburn), 10-3The Hillmen keep rolling, averaging nearly 11 wins per season for the past half-decade. Replacing Hans Grassmann will be tough, but there's plenty of beef on the line including 6-3, 265-pound tackle
Chase Esty.
16. Jesuit (Carmichael), 6-6An ambitious schedule features an April 3 road trip to Northern California power De La Salle (Concord). Senior
Ace Saca returns at running back after missing the 1,000-yard mark by one yard in 2019.
17. Center (Antelope), 11-1The Cougars were perfect until running into Ripon in the D-III playoffs. Center's five opponents were a combined 28-28 last season.
18. Inderkum (Sacramento), 11-1The Tigers were unbeaten until meeting Oak Ridge in the Division I semifinals. Inderkum is 34-3 over the last three seasons.
19. Hilmar, 11-2Senior quarterback
Seth Miguel accounted for nearly 2,500 yards of total offense, throwing for 1,946 and 28 TDs.
Braiden Stubblefield logged 101 tackles for the Yellowjackets, who fell in the D-VI finals to eventual state champion Escalon.
20. Lincoln, 5-6JT Willis is back for the Fighting Zebras after throwing for 1,800-plus yards and 13 scores. Junior
Jordan Wagner was second on the team in 2019 with 98 tackles, including 9.5 for loss.
21. Edison (Stockton), 9-2The Vikings head into their four-game schedule without All-Section Sophomore of the Year Raleek Brown, who transferred to SoCal power Mater Dei.
22. Granite Bay, 5-7Del Oro, Folsom and Oak Ridge provide a gauntlet of a schedule for the Grizzlies.
23. Yuba City, 7-5The Honkers open with Inderkum, face rival River Valley and close with Northern Section power Pleasant Valley.
24. Sonora, 6-6The Wildcats are still looking to fill out a schedule after reaching the D-VI semifinals last season.
25. Buhach Colony (Atwater), 11-1The Thunder ran the table before a one-point loss to Placer in the Division III semifinals. All-Section linebacker
Nate Ruiz returns after 69 tackles, including 10 for loss.
