Bee’s Best prep football: No. 14 Sacramento returns talented veterans to playoff team

The Sacramento Bee will unveil our Top 25 football rankings from No. 25 to No. 1, a team every week day, right up to the Aug. 19 kickoff.

No. 14 Sacramento Charter

City: Sacramento

School opened: 2003

Division: III

Enrollment: 418

2021 record: 9-3

Coach: Kimbbie Drayton

Outlook: This is the year.

The Dragons took their lumps for a couple of years, fielding young and small teams that were overmatched by their opponents.

No longer. Those freshmen and sophomores are now juniors and seniors, and Sacramento is loaded with talent on both sides of the ball. The Dragons went 2-8 in 2019 and 2-2 in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season before enjoying a coming-out party last year, going 9-3 and making it to the semifinals of the section Division III tournament.

First-year coach Kimbbie Drayton makes no bones about it: The Dragons expect to be good this year.

“Defense will be the strength of the team,” he said.

Capital Athletic League defensive MVP Corie Radcliffe is back for his senior season. The All-Metro player had 100 tackles, two interceptions and 2.5 sacks last season. With Darrius Moore, Elijah Hardiman, Rasheem Perry, Keimari Benjamin and Niles Overall, the Dragons expect to be fast and physical. That’s saying something. Sacramento had 34 sacks and 16 interceptions last year. Damarion Taylor had five interceptions and Perry added three of his own.

As if that wasn’t enough firepower, the offense has plenty of talent at the skill positions. Quarterback Naaman Branyan is back for his senior season. Branyan had 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions in 12 games last year. But the centerpiece of the Sacramento offense will likely be junior Lamar Radcliffe, who ran for 2,109 yards and 23 touchdowns in 11 games last year. He’s a 6-foot-2, 220-pound powerhouse running back who might prefer knocking over a couple of defenders to juking past them.

When Branyan passes, he’ll have receiver Devin Stephens and twin brother Steven Stephens on the other end. They’re both fast and work hard to make life difficult for the defense. And young receivers Jerimyah Mitchell and Labradian Keyward could make their presence felt as well this season, Drayton said.

But.

There’s always something to worry about. For Sacramento, the departure of head coach Justin Reber could be a problem, though Drayton was an assistant coach last season and knows the Dragons in and out. Sacramento is young on the offensive line, Drayton said, with Ignacio Taylor the only returning starter.

“The team will only go as far as our young offensive line will take us,” Drayton said.

The schedule will do Sacramento few favors. The Dragons face Inderkum in the non-league schedule as well as strong Stockton schools in McNair and Stagg. The Capital Athletic League schedule features an up-and-coming Vista del Lago team as well as perennial league favorites Christian Brothers and Capital Christian.

But the Dragons have seen it all before.