Bee’s Best prep football: No. 7 Jesuit is senior-heavy but faces a tough schedule

This week, we’re blowing up with prep two-a-days. We’re publishing two previews a day as we dive into the top 10 of our rankings for high school football in the Sacramento area.

No. 7 Jesuit Marauders

City: Carmichael

School opened: 1963

League: Delta

Division: I/II

Enrollment: 1,021

2021 spring record: 3-2

Coach: Marlon Blanton

The Jesuit football team isn’t ducking anybody. The season opener next week is a road game in Folsom. Then there’s Granite Bay and Christian Brothers before the Delta League offers up tilts with ranked squads like Pleasant Grove and Elk Grove.

Marlon Blanton, a three-year starting running back at Bay Area powerhouse De La Salle, wouldn’t have it any other way. You have to play the best in order to figure out where you stand, he said, and that’s why Jesuit’s schedule looks a bit like a gauntlet.

“I believe football is education-based first and we like to challenge ourselves,” he said. “If we want our students as a student in the classroom to challenge themselves in the classroom, I see it the same way. You should challenge yourself here too. At least then you know what it’s like to be up against the best.”

The Marauders aren’t too shabby, either.

They rank seventh in The Bee’s Top 25 in part because of quarterback Preston Vukovich. The senior is 6-foot-2 and threw for an average of 145 yards a game in five spring contests. He had seven touchdowns against two interceptions in spring.

And the Marauders have plenty of experienced hands to haul in those passes. Seniors Jackson Hagopian, Garrett McGriff and Alejandro Rojas will play both ways, hauling in Vukovich’s passes while batting them down in the secondary.

Senior Kai Santos is the dependable running back who is going to be counted on to plow for yardage.

Linebacker Kai Wallin is expected to make stops and lead the defensive effort while lineman Josef Mokofisi is expected to anchor the line.

“We’re hoping our O-line and D-line group can carry us where we want to go,” Blanton said.

With the 50th Holy Bowl coming up Sept. 11, Blanton isn’t throwing around any bravado about stomping the competition. The competition’s tough and he thinks his Marauders can develop into one of the area’s best teams. The only question is how long that will take.

“My team in general can be really good,” he said. “I told them, we can be really good. I just can’t tell you exactly when that’s going to happen.”