A California Division 5-AA title championship in 2022. Back-to-back Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI titles. Two Division I college football recruits back for their senior seasons.

Talk about raising the bar. The Hughson High football team is in the midst of something special, even for a school with such a storied athletic history. The Huskies have been so dominant that the Section promoted them to Division V for this year’s playoffs, making them the smallest school at that level.

Coach Shaun King wouldn’t have it any other way.

“That’s where the program is. The expectation is to practice on Thanksgiving. It’s no longer a goal,” said King, acknowledging that working out on Thanksgiving Day means the Huskies have made it to another Section championship game.

The playoffs are three months away, though. When the Huskies kick off their 2024 season at home Friday night against Ceres, all eyes will be on two heralded seniors – quarterback Robert McDaniel and defensive end/tight end Max Mankins – expected to lead the way this year.

Both already have verbally committed to high-profile colleges – McDaniel to Arizona, Mankins to the Air Force Academy – making Hughson one of the only small schools in California to feature two Division I recruits.

They are the first Division I players for the Huskies since linebacker Ryan Loftin went to Oregon nearly 20 years ago and Mankins’ father Jeremy (now a Hughson assistant coach ) played for Boise State a decade before that.

McDaniel is a four-year starter who already owns every passing record in school history. The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder is coming off a season in which he threw 33 touchdowns and just four interceptions – gaudy stats that attracted the attention of most major colleges in the country.

After initially announcing this spring he would attend Cal, he changed his mind a few weeks later and committed to Arizona. McDaniel’s plan is to graduate at mid-year so he can enroll in Arizona in January.

“That decision was a huge load off his shoulders,” King said. “Now that he’s made it, he’s happy with it. He loves the coaches in Arizona.”

King said McDaniel knows the offense so well that it’s like having another coach on the field. The staff listens when he suggests plays and counts on him to keep his teammates on their toes.

“He’s looking better than ever,” King said. “He’s become a coach to the younger guys. If a receiver runs a wrong route, he chews them out before our coaches can. The team looks up to him and is going to follow him, so he needs to set a good example.”

According to his coach, McDaniel’s goals this fall are simple – “To have a good healthy season and to go one step further than last season.”

The 6-3, 225-pound Mankins also has high expectations this year. He’s coming off a season in which he had 38 tackles (including a team-leading seven behind the line of scrimmage) and 4½ sacks (tied for most) from his defensive end position. As a tight end, he made 13 catches, two of them for TDs.

He was recruited by half of the Ivy League schools – Harvard, Yale, Cornell and Brown – but fell in love with the Air Force Academy when he visited Colorado Springs earlier this year.

King said Mankins’ strength and speed allow him to dominate opponents, including during a scrimmage last week against Modesto schools Enochs and Beyer and Golden Valley of Merced.

“He’s got long arms, he’s fast. He was unblockable last week,” said King, adding that Mankins has set some aggressive goals for this season. “He wants to catch five balls a game and have five-plus tackles and one sack a game.”

McDaniel and Mankins may get the headlines, but Hughson is far more than a two-man team. The 58 players on the roster include 22 seniors, all of whom will be honored at the first game on Senior Night. Those players were on last year’s Section championship team and some even played as sophomores on the 2022 squad that won the state title.

Among those seniors are standout wide receiver and safety Malakai Sumter, center and defensive end Carlos Guizar, left guard Travis Harkrader, middle linebacker Colt Foss and running back Cesar Ramos. Juniors expected to play big roles this year are running back Eli Wilbanks and wide receiver and defensive back Bryce McDaniel.

Hughson’s non-league schedule includes Friday’s contest against Ceres, an away game the following week vs. Central Valley of Ceres, and a Homecoming game Sept. 6 against Pitman of Turlock.

The Huskies then have a bye before beginning the rugged Trans-Valley League season Sept. 14 at Ripon. The TVL is revamped this year – gone are Riverbank and Livingston, replaced by Sonora, Orestimba and Ripon Christian.