Grizzlies have talent to make deep postseason run

With several returning players on defense, along with senior running back Isaiah Ene and receiver Darnell Turner, Granite Bay feels it's got the tools to challenge for a section title. Ene is rock with legs and either runs over guys or runs by them. He finished 11th in the Sac-Joaquin Section last season with 1,401 rushing yards and scored 21 rushing touchdowns. He's one of the top backs in the section. Turner can impact a game on all three levels; offense, defense and special teams. Turner only caught 35 passes a year ago for 606 yards and four touchdowns. He's looking to increase those numbers. He also scored one rushing touchdown, two on kickoff returns and two on interception returns. Those two players will need to be accounted for by the opponent on both sides of the ball. Ene is excited for the season. "I'm looking forward to my senior year," Ene said. "We're trying to be fundamentally sound because we know we're not going to be the biggest, strongest or the fastest team, but we're going to do whatever we got to do. We're closer as a team this year than in past years and I think that will help us in the long run." Turner, who's committed to Sacramento State, has big goals for the season. "My goals are the break 1,000 receiving yards and lead this offense as far as I can," Turner said. "Darnell is really dynamic and explosive as a receiver, defensive back and a kick returner," Granite Bay head coach Joe Cattolico said. "There are a lot of ways that he can impact a ball game. That's the biggest thing for him is his versatility. He impacted the game by making big plays in all three phases of football games last year. Not a ton of guys can do that. Turner's teammates think highly of him as well. "DT is a crazy playmaker and a crazy athlete," Ene said. "One on one, he's going to beat you every time." "Darnell is a pretty good route runner and he's really good about going up and getting the ball," junior quarterback Dominic Cattolico said. "He's also pretty hard to tackle in space. "We have some of the best weapons in the section on our team. Isaiah is an all-around back and one of the best backs in the section. Lio Ene is coming into his own. He learned a lot last year and should be pretty good." Junior Gabe Smyth also returns in the backfield, as he rushed for 416 yards and scored nine touchdowns last year. Cattolico, a junior, only threw eight passes a season ago playing behind Nick Harris, but played seven games as a freshman so he's got experience. His development will be critical to Granite Bay's success. "I think it will be a big responsibility to be the quarterback, but I've done it before," Cattolico said. "I know I can do it. I've got more confidence and experience now; live and learn. "I think our offensive line will be solid; obviously, that's where it all starts. I'm excited to lead this offense and step into my role as a leader." The leader on the offensive line will be the right tackle, senior JT Fales. "I'm feeling good about the team," Fales said. "We have a chance to do something in the playoffs. The key will be teamwork, working together and effort. We have the talent; we just have to work together." Defensively, the Grizzlies have a lot of returners. "Our back four in the secondary, Isaiah, myself, Izaiah Galovich and DT, we're all pretty good and even our backups are good," Lio Ene said. "Our backers are good and we've got a lot of young guys on the line." Added Isaiah Ene, "We've got almost the same group coming back on defense. We've got young players up front who are looking good. We've got more depth at linebacker. Hopefully, we can put it all together because if we can it will be a good season for us." Other returning defenders include Fales, Trey Conner, Augie Paul on the line, Elijah Paul, who can play both positions, and linebackers Billy Heinselman and Eddie Zhang. "We've got a lot of kids back so we're hoping that experience that translates into some improvement," Cattolico said. "We weren't bad on defense last year, but I'd like to think with all the guys we've got coming back that that translates into getting a couple more stops this year." Granite Bay has a lot of skilled players, but there's more to football than just skill. "We've got some good skill players, but it's a blocking and tackling sport and we've got to make sure we get those things right so that the guys with the ball can do some things and the guys on the other team with the ball can't do as many things as they want to," Cattolico said. First and foremost, the goal for the Grizzlies is to win a Sierra Foothill League title. "Our goal is to win the league and then we can try to win the section," Cattolico said. "We're going to have to stay healthy, which is always a challenge. Football is a blocking and tackling and a mistake sport. More often than not, at this level, we feel somebody loses games rather than teams winning games. We want to be really good at blocking and tackling and make fewer mistakes than the other team."