Senior Offensive Talent in the Sac-Joaquin Section

Anthony Ascarrunz

February 23, 2021 @ 02:26 PM

These four student athletes were among some of the best at their position as juniors last season in the Sac-Joaquin Section. They will now hope to find similar success and find new improvements as now the ban from Covid-19 has been lifted in California.   Elijah Johnson - 6’4, 225 lbs - Woodland Christian - Senior Twitter: N/A Having spent every year of his high school career at the varsity level, Johnson has the frame and athleticism to be a no doubt Division 1 talent. With his role and production increasing every year, scouts took notice of him last season where he was the top junior tight end receiving leader for the 2019-2020 season with 298 yards in the Sac-Joaquin Section. I do not worry much about his overall lack of statistical production as Woodland Christian was more of a run based team as they ran the football 68% of the time on offense which worked to their benefit as they went 8-3 and 5-0 in league play. With still needing some fundamental/technical fixes to his stance and blocking form, Johnson is more of a strider as a runner and is agile and skill-full enough to maneuver his way to gain yards after the catch. Even with needing some work still, he can put himself in the right position to block and also can get up and snatch the football in contested situations. I would love to see more from Johnson in his next opportunity and hopefully, he lands a scholarship at a premium college.   Brandon Barthel - 6’0, 195 lbs - Oak Ridge - Senior Twitter: @BrandonBarthel7 Being 2nd among juniors receivers in yardage in the section, Brandon Barthel was as impressive a receiver on tape as I’ve seen recently. A receiver who can stem routes well, can be quick at the line of scrimmage to beat press, and has a good forward lean get off, came on the scene as a junior by tallying 714 yards on 48 catches with 5 touchdowns. Helping his team to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division 1 Championship, Barthel did well versus some of best opponents in his area, making tough catches along the sideline, on good man coverage, and even on contested opportunities. Barthel was proven to be battle tested among a high degree of difficulty.   Keionn Palmer - 5’10, 185 lbs - Grant - Senior Twitter: @PalmerKeionn Only playing in 6 games as a junior and 4 as sophomore on varsity, Keionn Palmer was still able to create enough plays, primarily last year at the wide receiver position to gain some attention. Racking up 586 yards on 26 receptions in only 6 games is impressive to say the least. An interesting type of receiver who was used more so in the quick screen game, but has good speed to get deep over the top and can take a short pass a long ways and also can position himself well in one on one opportunities when the ball is in the air.   Aaron Turner - 5’8, 160 lbs - Davis - Senior Twitter: N/A Rushing for 918 yards and 14 touchdowns on 112 carries, Turner is not as flashy as some of other running backs but doesn’t waste time gaining yards and hitting the hole. A north and south runner, Turner is more of a 1-cut type of back and has good straight line speed to break off big runs. Being a key factor to helping Davis High achieving a 10-2 record, even though he is a little slim and does not have much wiggle, if he can improve his frame and become a bit more flexible in his lateral agility, he will be more successful than last season in a more dominant role as he shared the backfield with his former talented teammate Taylor Vaughn who graduated last year.