Prep football: A Granite Bay freshman makes an immediate impression. Here’s why he’s different
Isaiah Ene was lined up in the backfield in a three-point stance, ready to take one of the first carries of his varsity career. It was a pitch to the left, but the tight end on that side of the formation whiffed on the linebacker he tried to block, leaving the defender a free lane to blow up the play.
No matter.
Ene exploded past the defender. who took a bad angle failing to account for Ene’s speed. Then Ene cut up field, through a tunnel of Granite Bay blockers, bowled over an oncoming safety and was eventually tackled by three Elk Grove players.
The 17-yard play ended near the visiting sideline, where the Granite Bay student section trumpeted a chant it used often during the Grizzlies’ 34-12 road victory in the first week of the season:
“He’s - a - fresh-man!” Clap, clap, clap clap clap. “He’s - a - fresh-man!” Clap, clap, clap clap clap.
To Ene’s mother, Malia, seeing her son make a strong run early in the game gave her a sense of ease. After all, Isaiah — affectionately called “Zay” by those close to him — began training for his football career seriously at the age of 7.
He received his first Division I scholarship offer the summer between seventh and eighth grade. Last week, the running back/safety/linebacker was officially offered by the University of Utah and expects more interest to come. He’s expected to have double-digit offers from Division I programs by the time his freshman season is over.
But there was a level of unknown for Malia before the season opener because her son had never taken a snap at the high school level. He was, after all, a freshman making his Granite Bay debut.
“That was really a relief and it put me at ease. His very first carry, he had a really solid run and broke some tackles,” she said in a phone interview. “So right away, I was like, oh, I guess he’s okay. Throughout the game he was just making big plays and just looked so comfortable. For me, I was like, we’re good, we can go on now.”
‘The dream is not free’
But with early success, there’s always a risk of a player buying into the hype and not maintaining the edge that got them there. The attention can become a poisonous distraction. But that doesn’t sound like it will be a problem for Ene, thanks largely to the messaging from his parents. They’ve worked to ingrain the importance of getting good grades, being a high-quality individual and making good choices.
“It can all go away,” Malia Ene said. “So you really need to enjoy the moment but understand that really the work never stops, because the dream is not free. It’s something that we’ve stressed literally his entire life.”
Ask those around the Granite Bay football program and they’ll tell you they can’t remember the last time a freshman started for varsity. Let alone play both sides of the ball at a high level like Ene.
Head coach Joe Cattolico, who took the Grizzlies job in 2021, has coached high school for 25 years and can remember only one other freshman playing varsity for one of his teams.
“What stood out to me was the moment wasn’t bigger than him,” he said. “He not only played physically older than his years but mentally and emotionally older than his years as well.”
Ene, who has long, curly hair he compares to Hall of Fame safety Troy Polamalu’s, finished his first game with 91 rushing yards on 11 carries. He had 55 yards on six carries and two rushing touchdowns in his second game against Davis. He works alongside speedster Carter Jackson in the Grizzlies’ talented backfield.
Ene is also a defensive standout. Against Elk Grove, he tied for the team lead with seven tackles working as a strong safety and hybrid linebacker. On one play, Ene stuck an Elk Grove running back at the line of scrimmage and drove him backwards behind the line of scrimmage using a textbook form tackle that would have made Polamalu proud. Polamalu might have liked Ene’s second game better: He had a pair of interceptions against Davis High.
Malia Ene pointed out Granite Bay didn’t do much live tackling during training camp leading into the season. There were fair questions about how her son would hold up against players who have experience at the varsity level while he had none.
“Can he really physically keep up with these kids that are three and four years older than him?” she asked herself. “Whereas if you ask his dad (Ray), he was like, ‘No, I know.’
“There’s never been a question in his mind that Zay was capable of playing varsity as a freshman. … For him he’s always known.”
‘Gone a little bit crazy’
Anyone watching No. 24 in his white jersey that night saw something different, particularly in the context of his age. The 14-year-old freshman was one of the most physical players on the field. The willingness to hunt contact, as a running back and defensive player, was impossible to miss.
But Ene isn’t some physical marvel who would typically be first off the bus like some elite prospects. He’s not 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds. He’s 5-foot-7 and 185. He doesn’t stand out until the ball is snapped — when his ferocity, speed and willingness to throw his body around kicks into gear.
That physicality started when he first began taking training seriously at 7 years old.
“It’s just gone a little bit crazy ever since, to be honest,” Malia Ene said.
Ene started working out with Lem Adams at Game Fit, a football-specific training facility just north of downtown Sacramento where a slew of elite players have trained since its opening in 2012.
It was apparent to Adams early on that Ene had a similar mindset to players he’s worked with in the past, including Arik Armstead of the 49ers and Panthers’ standout Shaq Thompson.
“He was in the beginner level group and I was just like, ‘Nah, you’re coming over to me.’ I just saw something in him that’s different,” Adams said. “When they’re that age, you don’t see kids that really, really want to work super hard. He wanted to make every sprint time, get every rep, doesn’t want to miss workouts. You’re not going to get kids that want to train multiple days a week at that age.”
During fourth and fifth grade, Ene would play with seventh- and eighth-graders in Pop Warner and make his presence felt in the same way he did during his high school debut. His versatility to play on offense and defense was apparent back then, even though he was smaller.
“After that, we just started talking about his goals,” Adams said. “’Zay, you really have a chance to do something special. You just got to keep working, keep trusting the process.’ ... He’s the most versatile kid on both sides of the ball that I’ve been a part of. And it’s not even close.”
Working for it
His work ethic has lasted and come to define Ene as a football player as he got to high school. He’ll often go to Game Fit at 5:30 in the morning before class. During the season, he’ll do mobility training on Saturday mornings, hours after his night games. Then on Sunday he’ll do three separate workouts spanning from 8 a.m. to the afternoon. All while maintaining his grades and being one of the Grizzlies’ best practice players.
“I think he’s kind of a throwback,” Cattolico said. “I think he’s played a lot of football but watches and pays attention to a lot of football. We don’t find ourselves telling him something more than once. We tell him something and he understands what you’re saying and he does it. Especially for a that young, that’s pretty rare.”
Adams said he talks to college coaches and recruiters regularly about Ene. They’re main question: Is he really as good as he looks on tape in and his workout videos?
“My response is he’s better than advertised,” Adams said. “Then you see him up close and he literally dots all those I’s and crosses all those T’s for you. He’s better, better, better up close. And he’s just as good in pads and helmets. There’s absolutely no drop off.
“He’s the whole package. As the years progress, this area’s about to witness something that’s pretty something special.”
