Bee’s Best: Duran of Cosumnes Oaks wins Prep of Week football poll

Steven Duran III started this high school football season as the quarterback for Cosumnes Oaks of the Elk Grove Unified School District.

He is now the anchor on defense in the secondary, a unit that has come of age, just as the team has, in overcoming an 0-2 start with a 2-2 overall showing.

In a 28-13 win over Davis in a Delta League opener, Duran III had eight tackles and returned an interception a school-record 100 yards for a touchdown to earn The Bee’s Prep of the Week honors through fan voting. He finished with more than 20,000 votes. Pioneer’s Jack Carner took second place with nearly 18,000 votes.

Cosumnes Oaks hosts Sheldon on Friday night.

The 6-foot, 170-pound senior is a 3.3 student who enjoys math, theater, drawing and science. He plays basketball and baseball and just about anything in football outside the trenches, including cornerback and safety on defense, quarterback, slot and receiver on offense.

Joe Davidson

The Sacramento Bee

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Joe Davidson has covered sports for The Sacramento Bee since 1989: preps, colleges, Kings and features. He was in early 2024 named the National Sports Media Association Sports Writer of the Year for California and he was in the fall of 2024 inducted into the California High School Football Hall of Fame. He is a 14-time award winner from the California Prep Sports Writer Association. In 2021, he was honored with the CIF Distinguished Service award. He is a member of the California Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Davidson participated in football and track in Oregon.