Roseville should be able to score, but what about defense

A season ago Roseville had the luxury of having the Capital Valley Conference Most Valuable Player lining up for them on offense in quarterback Brandon Graydon. Graydon has graduated and now the Tigers have a quarterback competition between senior Clark Nielsen and sophomore Mason Susnara. Though Nielsen is the senior, he's less experienced than Susnara, who quarterbacked the junior varsity team a year ago and did a nice job. Nielsen played behind Graydon, which means he saw little to no action. If Roseville is going to have success this season, one of those two will have to take the reins and take control of the offense. One offensive player the Tigers are high on is receiver Joel Bradley, their returning leading receiver, who caught 17 passes for 472 yards and a team-high eight touchdowns. He averaged nearly 28 yards per catch. "Joel really is an all-Metro candidate with his speed," Roseville coach Adam Reinking said. "I think he runs a 4.5 40 and 10.9 100 and he's got good hands so I tell our quarterbacks it's going to be hard to overthrow him. Anytime you have someone that fast you want to get him the ball in space." While last year Reinking said he tried to hide his offensive line, this year he likes this group and said they can help the team win games. Members of the offensive line include Fernando Munguia, Turin Lipska, Ethan Salas, Austin Zamora, Ryan Smith, Dillon Johnson and James Membrere. "We're not overly big up front, but we've been working hard on techniques and skills that will help us be successful," Reinking said. "The kids have embraced that. We're deep on the line. I've got nine guys who I would feel comfortable putting them in a game." Playing on the strong side wing will be Aaron Salas, a blocker who will also run the ball. "Aaron is one of our better football players," Reinking said. "He's physical and athletic." The starting fullback will either be Ethan Edson and Keaton Hatch, while the starting tight end will either be John Donahoe or Shawn Legue. "Shawn has done a good job in the weight room, as he's added like 30 pounds and transformed his body," Reinking said. "Another guy we're high on is John Donahoe, who is 6-4, 190 pounds." When the quarterback is not trying to throw the ball to Bradley, as Reinking calls him, "the fastest dude in Roseville," he will also be looking for Jaden Broussard or Kenny McClure. Defensively, it's a rebuilding year for the Tigers, as they've graduated 10 of 11 starters from last year. "Our defense will be a work in progress, but we've got around 20 defensive linemen and there's a lot of healthy competition there," Reinking said. "There's nothing given there, everything will be earned." One piece of good news is that the Tigers got a transfer from Oregon, DJ Smith, who should be a player. "DJ is 6-4, 270 pounds that played for a 13-1, senior-dominated team last year," Reinking said. "He was a mid-summer Christmas present for us. He should be an impact player for us." Other linemen Reinking is high on are Anthony Zerilli and John Donahoe, who he said both did a great job in the weight room in the offseason. "We've literally got eight or nine guys who will rotate in here so we're going to be constantly fresh on the line," Reinking said. Linebackers being given a good look are Kaiden Pedone, Rocco Jara, Andrew Morales and Martin Williams. In the secondary, where Reinking said the team will be inexperienced but athletic, will be Rocco Bastianelli and Keaton Hatch. Jaden Broussard will also see time at corner. At safety, Roseville has Aaron Salas, Luke Donahoe, and Clark Nielsen. "I feel that defensively if we can apply the techniques we're taught and once it clicks, we'll be OK," Reinking said. "I feel there are enough guys that are ready for their opportunity. Our defense will be a work in progress. I think after scrimmaging Granite Bay and then opening with Oakmont and Placer, we will figure out pretty quickly how tough we are." Roseville was nine points shy of a league title last season, losing by six to Antelope and by three points to Woodcreek. They upset Oakdale in the first round of the playoffs before losing to Patterson. "We want to be playing meaningful games in November and we've done that the last two seasons," Reinking said. "We have the scheme and the kids believe in what we do. It's about going out and executing. We will need some guys to step up and we will need some other guys to embrace leadership roles to be successful."