High School Sports

Bee’s Best: Rocklin’s Elias Brown wins Prep of Week poll

Rocklin’s Elias Brown runs the ball just short of the goal before being tackled by Del Oro’s Isaiah Moore during the second quarter in the game at Rocklin High School in Rocklin on Friday, Sept. 24, 2021. Rocklin won 38-3.
Rocklin’s Elias Brown runs the ball just short of the goal before being tackled by Del Oro’s Isaiah Moore during the second quarter in the game at Rocklin High School in Rocklin on Friday, Sept. 24, 2021. Rocklin won 38-3. Sacramento Bee file

Elias Brown arrived in the East Bay last Friday ready to work. He delivered.

The 6-foot, 220-pound senior running back for Rocklin High School needed just eight carries to inflict his damage, rushing for 228 yards and three touchdowns to propel a 41-0 victory over Antioch to move the No. 7 Thunder to 3-1.

And Brown kept on winning. He won The Bee’s Prep of the Week voting poll with more than 15,000 votes on a poll that generated nearly 40,000 total votes.

Brown showed glimpses of what he could do last season, rushing for 227 yards during a 12-1 season. He eclipsed that against Antioch and has now gone for 546 yards and five scores leading into this week’s bye week.

Rocklin caps its nonleague schedule on Sept. 23 with a home game against Glacier Park of Snohomish, Wash. before the Thunder open Sierra Foothill League action as defending champions. Brown will surely be in the mix.

“Elias had a great offseason and we’re seeing that hard work pay off,” Rocklin coach Jason Adams said. “He’s got all the tools you look for in a running back: vision, quick feet in the hole, physical at the point of contact and an explosive burst in the open field. He’s a heck of a pass protector, too.”

Nominate a Prep of the Week

Nominations are open for both boys’ and girls’ prep of the week. Nominees can be for any fall sport. For boys, email Joe Davidson at jdavidson@sacbee.com; for girls, email Jim Patrick at jpatrick@sacbee.com.

This story was originally published September 16, 2022 at 10:52 PM.

Joe Davidson
The Sacramento Bee
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.
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