Bee Best football preview: No. 23 Roseville looks to build momentum off strong spring

The Sacramento Bee will unveil our Top 25 football rankings from No. 25 to No. 1, a team a day, right up to the Aug. 20 kickoff. Today, we turn to Placer County.

No. 23 Roseville Tigers

City: Roseville

School opened: 1902

League: Capital Valley Conference

Division: ll

Enrollment: 1,986

2021 spring record: 2-2

Coach: Adam Reinking

Outlook: After COVID-19 derailed the start of the season for Roseville, the Tigers finished strong with wins over River Valley and Bella Vista in the final three weeks of the season. Nearly a dozen starters return for the Tigers, including brothers Brandon and Ryan Graydon. They are competing for the quarterback job.

Others returners on offense include Ricky Bastianelli, Kris Jibson and Daryon Beecham-Young.

Roseville coach Adam Reinking said of the quarterback battle, “Brandon is probably one of the top three football players in the entire school. He’s a guy that’s going to be on the field whether it’s quarterback, running back or safety. … The good news is they’re brothers and they’re rooting and pulling for each other. They’re good brothers. There is not a lot of fighting.”

Roseville is especially experienced on defense with Brennan Bass, Andrew Lucero, Gabe Norris and Blane Kamaka at linebacker and the secondary. Roseville’s junior varsity went 4-2 in the spring. Roseville faces district rival Oakmont in a season opener on Aug. 20. The Tigers will face a stern challenge from Placer the following week in their home opener.

In league play, Roseville’s toughest games are backloaded on the schedule. Yuba City placed second in the league in 2019 and play the Tigers in the third-to-last game of the year. Inderkum had a rough spring and has a new coach but the season finale with Roseville figures to be a classic matchup.

“We are more experienced on defense but offensively, I like what we have,” Reinking said. “I think we have the ability to be as good if not better than last year.”