Although its season ended in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs, the 2017 season looks bright for the Cordova High School varsity football team.

The Lancers won a share of the Sierra Valley Conference title with Liberty Ranch and El Dorado, going 4-1 each. Cordova finished its season at 7-4, which included a 30-20 loss to Christian Brothers in the first round of the playoffs at Hughes Stadium on the Sacramento City College campus on Veteran’s Day.

“Not to hang their heads,” said Cordova head coach Darren Nill in his team’s post-game talk after the loss to Christian Brothers. “They certainly have nothing to be ashamed of. We’re a young team, and we’re going to be back next year.”

Of the 39 players on the roster, Nill loses 19 seniors to graduation next spring. Some of those players are running back Deante McCullough, who rushed 145 times for 1,339 yards and 16 touchdown, and middle linebacker Kenneth Haney, who led the Lancers in tackles with 91. Linebacker Michael Gonzalez was another factor on the Lancers’ defense, with 53 tackles.

The next two years should put Cordova in the driver’s seat toward battling for the SVC title. With 20 players projected to return in 2017, six are sophomores and 14 are juniors.

 “You can never rule out Liberty Ranch and El Dorado,” said Nill of the Hawks and Cougars. “You never know what’s going to happen in the SVC. Nobody thought Cordova was going to be around, and look what happened.”

Leading the list for the Lancers is sophomore quarterback Xavier Johnson, who completed 123-of-221 passes for 1,862 yards and 19 touchdowns. Johnson also had a quarterback rating of 93.4 percent.

Other key players expected to return are running back/defensive end Kelechi Njoku, who scored seven touchdowns and second on the team in tackles with 74. Wide receivers Calvin Augusta, a junior who had 852 yards in receptions and eight touchdowns, and sophomore Alvin Banks, who had 594 yards and seven touchdowns.

Junior linebacker Yusef Pugh registered 67 tackles, and defensive back Terrill Johnson – one of four Lancer players on this year’s team who has the last name Johnson – had 58 tackles.