Rambo in pads: Area’s top recruit returns to form for Sacramento Dragons after knee injury
From the air-conditioned confines of his football office, Kimmbie Drayton’s eyes widened as he spoke about his top talent.
“He’s a man,” the Sacramento High School coach said before practice last week of the Dragons’ proverbial Big Man on campus. “Lamar Radcliffe is a man. Wait until you see him. It’s been awhile. Check out his arms, his legs, the frame. A man. God gave him that body, the genetics.”
Moments later, under the bright sunshine on the storied campus in Oak Park, Radcliffe did not disappoint. This doesn’t look like your typical teenager. This one is 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds of thick arms, thick legs and muscle, all wrapped around a young man who is as humble as he is punishing.
Radcliffe is a senior running back with a lot of time to make up for. The last anyone saw of the national recruit was in the 2022 season opener against Stagg of Stockton. A season after bulldozing and breaking away for 2,109 yards and 23 touchdowns during a 9-3 playoff season, Radcliffe’s junior campaign lasted minutes. On his third carry, Radcliffe broke into the free and was on his way to the end zone.
Then it happened.
“I saw the play develop and made a move,” Radcliffe recalled as the sun sparkled off his gold earrings and expressive eyes. “Then I went down. No one hit me. Knee gave out. I knew it was bad.”
It was worse than bad. Radcliffe ruptured the ACL and MCL of his right knee. Days later, when an MRI confirmed the damage, Radcliffe dejectedly boarded the team bus, in street clothes, as the Dragons set off to play a game.
“Everyone was deflated,” Drayton said. “We never recovered.”
Besieged by injury and rotten luck, the Dragons limped home at 2-8. But the encouraging news is plentiful these days for the program. Sixteen starters return, including all of the linemen, a running back’s best group of friends. Radcliffe just might be the area’s top player this coming season. He has given a verbal pledge to play for the Utah Utes, a powerhouse seeking a Pac-12 Conference championship three-peat.
All told, the focal points are both named Radcliffe — cousins Lamar and Corie. Corie is a talented 5-11, 225-pound linebacker for the Dragons and a returning Bee All-Metro player.
In a workout, the workmanlike Radcliffe showed glimpses of his old magic. He glided effortlessly over bags in an agility drill. He was radiant, pleased — and relieved.
Years ago, such a knee injury would sideline an athlete for a year or more, and the surgical scar would snake around the knee and lower leg. Radcliffe has a four-inch scar. In past years, colleges would look elsewhere if a player suffered knee ligament damage, but Radcliffe was too good to ignore.
On his left arm, Radcliffe has a tattoo that reads “Rambo” in honor of a late grandfather. Radcliffe is every bit Rambo carrying the ball with a seek-and-destroy mentality.
“I don’t think anyone can stop him,” Drayton said. “He’s that good.”
Throwback for a throwback school
Radcliffe is a throwback runner who blends right in with the Dragons’ old-school look and feel. In an era of field turf, Sacramento High plays on the real stuff — grass — cut, manicured and chalked by coaches. The campus is the oldest in the region and the facilities and buildings are gritty, much like their leading man.
Radcliffe is the best bruiser back for the Dragons since prep All-American Lou Harris of the late 1960s, who played at USC and in the CFL.
During his stellar sophomore season, Radcliffe started to field interest from major programs across the country, from Alabama to USC and points between. Drayton was the team’s assistant coach and Justin Reber the head coach. Reber knew right away he had a unique talent on hand.
“He’s amazing, special, and as soon as we got him on campus, we knew he’d be a big-time player,” said Reber, now the offensive coordinator at Inderkum, which visits Sac High on Sept. 2. “He’s super powerful with breakaway speed. Once he breaks the first level of the defense, no one in the secondary wants to tackle that guy.”
Radcliffe envisioned duplicating his 2,000-yard sophomore season with another playoff berth in 2022, and then doing it all over again this fall. That conceivably could have made him a 6,000-yard career rusher, the same as other all-time area rumbler backs in Onterrio Smith of Grant (and the Oregon Ducks and NFL) in the late 1990s and Cameron Skattebo of Rio Linda (then Sacramento State and now Arizona State.
Radcliffe was on his way to an all-time regional prep career, but fate stepped in and did something defenders could not do. Fate brought him to a screeching halt. Radcliffe can still have that banner career, motivated by the season he didn’t have.
“I was really down after the injury, couldn’t sleep, and I got a little depressed,” Radcliffe said. “But I was determined to come back. I worked hard. I learned a lot about my knee and how the body works. I have a lot to prove.”
Radcliffe could not bounce back to form without putting in the work, and he’s never been afraid to work. He pushed himself exhaustively through rehabilitation sessions. He regained strength and said he actually got stronger. He still does exercises and ices his knee regularly. He said he will not play with a knee brace for support.
“I feel like I’m 90% and I’ve been training hard,” Radcliffe said. “I’m back and I’m ready. I want to show that I can be better than before.”
A punishing back since he was 7
Drayton, the classy coach who, like many of his assistants, played sports at Sacramento High, recalls Radcliffe tearing off 300-yard games as a 12-year old. He said it was almost inhumane to see a big kid plow through kids his age but much thinner and lighter.
Corie Radcliffe, father of linebacker Corie, has watched his nephew Lamar carry the ball since he was 7 years old — first as a proud family man and later as a coach.
“Lamar could always run,” he said. “He’s always been a natural. He’s doing the same thing now that he’s always done, the same running style, the same sort of power and speed. Now, it’s just against older guys. This is a big year for him. His senior year is the only thing he thinks about out here. Sitting out last year? Oh, yeah. We felt his loss, and he felt it, too. But he’s back and we feel that, too.”
Big back bruisers
A peek at some of the Sacramento-area’s all-time bigger backs with burst (listed by senior prep season):
Beau Bisharat, Jesuit, 6-2/215, 2016: Rumbled for 4,130 varsity yards and 43 touchdowns, though the debate continues: Was he better than his pop, Charlie, who rumbled for Jesuit years earlier? Beau played at Colorado.
Demetryst Cornish, Lindhurst, 6-0/215, 1989: Still the program’s finest player, DC rushed for 3,966 yards in three Bee All-Metro seasons and played at Arizona; son Isaiah Frey starred at Jesuit, Nevada and played defensive back for several NFL seasons.
Lance Briggs, Elk Grove, 6-2/230, 1998: Ferocious tackler who made seven Pro Bowls with the Chicago Bears, Briggs punished teams as a prep runner, including 330 yards in a section championship game before starring on defense at Arizona.
Robert Dotson, Grant, 6-2/215, 1992: Grant’s first 2,000-yard rusher powered the Pacers to their first section title and then a generation later enjoyed watching son Elijah Dotson rush for 2,000 yards at Antelope High before his Sacramento State tour.
Farrell Funston, Dixon, 6-2/220, 1953: Two-time All-State honoree played without a face mask, starred at Pacific, played briefly for Paul Brown of the Cleveland Browns and spent eight seasons at receiver in the CFL.
Mark Hatzenbuhler, Galt, 6-1/215, 1989: Two-time Superior California Player of the Year rushed for a then-section record 4,452 career yards out of the archaic single-wing; played defense at Stanford.
Marc Hicks, Davis, 6-2/215, 1985: The greatest player/athlete in school history, Hicks rushed for 2,708 yards as a Blue Devil and the nation’s No. 1 running back recruit; played at Cal and Ohio State.
A.J. Kunkle, Nevada Union, 6-2/220, 1993: He relaxed by writing poems before big games and he had a lot of them for the section championship winning Miners before playing tight end at Cal.
Pedro Lewis, McClatchy, 6-1/220, 1989: A terrific three-sport athlete, Lewis was the engine that propelled powerhouse Lions teams, rushing for 1,347 yards and 18 TDs as a senior.
Jerry Machen, El Camino, 6-2/215, 1971: A prep All-American fullback recruited by 85 schools, Machen bulled his way to 1,308 yards in earning Bee Player of the Year honors before heading to Cal.
Emeka Nnoli, Natomas, 6-1/230, 2002: A prep All-American and still the school’s finest player, Nnoli was a nightmare, powering for 3,233 yards and 56 touchdowns; played four seasons at Stanford.
Bryce Oglesby, Ponderosa, 5-11/220, 1979: Opposing coaches would drag a blocking pad across the field and have defenders dive on to simulate Oglesby’s relentless style; played at Oregon State.
Fausto Portillo, Davis, 5-11, 220 pounds, 1992: Played like the star defensive end that he was and powered his way to 1,648 yards and 27 touchdowns and once “cleared our entire sideline when he rolled our way,” then-Elk Grove coach Ed Lombardi said.
Cameron Skattebo, Rio Linda, 5-10/215, 2019: Bounced off people or ran them over in setting rushing records with 6,192 yards and 69 TDs before leading Sacramento State in rushing; now at Arizona State.
Shaq Thompson, Grant, 6-2/220, 2011: Prep All-American devastated teams with speed, cutback ability and leg drive and had 3,380 career yards with 47 scores; starred at Washington and is a team captain linebacker with the Carolina Panthers.
Kevin Willhite, Cordova, 6-0/215, 1981: Named national Player of the Year by three publications, Willhite remains the area’s fastest big back and most heavily recruited one, too; ran for 4,901 yards and 72 scores at Cordova, played fullback at Oregon and a bit in the NFL.
Worrell Williams, Grant, 5-10/230, 2004: A prep All-American as a linebacker and punishing back, Williams starred at Cal and bounced around pro leagues.
Reggie Young, Cordova, 6-2/210, 1977: Three-year starter for famed Lancers teams that went 35-1, Young is still considered perhaps the greatest Cordova player of them all; played at Oregon and Hawaii.
