Three weeks into the Sacramento-area football season, some players are starting to separate themselves.
Some are piling up eye-popping numbers. Others are putting together breakout performances. And a few are simply making plays in the biggest moments.
From a Lindhurst junior doing everything imaginable to a Whitney star who helped snap a 32-game regular-season winning streak, these five players saw their stock rise significantly in Week 3.
Here are the latest Sacramento Football Stock Risers.
Chan Hicks (Lindhurst, Junior)
What can’t he do? That might be the best way to describe Hicks right now.
In Lindhurst’s 27-14 victory over Lower Lake, the Blazers forced five turnovers, including four interceptions and a fumble. Hicks was responsible for two of those interceptions while simultaneously carrying the offense with 190 rushing yards and a touchdown on 15 carries.
And this wasn’t an isolated performance.
Hicks ran for 240 yards the previous week and combined for 25 tackles during the first two games of the season. Now he has added two interceptions to the résumé while continuing to produce at a high level offensively.
Gunnar Marsh (Christian Brothers, Senior)
Marsh is making a pretty strong case that his junior season was only the beginning.
The Christian Brothers senior exploded for 12 catches, 326 yards and six touchdowns in the Falcons’ first win of the season against Nevada Union.
Yes, you read that correctly: six touchdowns. And, yes, you read the 326 yards correctly.
After catching 1,275 yards worth of passes last season, Marsh entered 2026 with plenty of expectations. Through the early portion of this season, he’s looking even more polished, explosive and difficult to contain.
What does he finish 2026 with?
Julian Masaniai (Downey, Senior)
Masaniai responded exactly how Downey needed him to.
After throwing four touchdowns and two interceptions in a 45-33 loss to No. 9 Monterey Trail, the senior quarterback delivered one of the cleanest games of his career in a 60-44 victory over No. 20 Merced. Masaniai completed 16 of 21 passes for 322 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions.
The 322 passing yards are the second-most of his career and his most since he threw for 381 yards against Elk Grove in Week 2 last season. The four touchdown passes also match his career high.
Zymir Nelson (Central Catholic, Senior)
Nelson had waited a while for a performance like this. He got it in Central Catholic’s second consecutive victory, a 28-19 win over Saint Bonaventure.
The senior running back erupted for a career-high 213 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Before this game, Nelson had just one career 100-yard rushing performance, which came last season. Then he more than doubled it.
This performance gives Central Catholic another explosive weapon as the Raiders continue to build momentum, and it puts Nelson firmly on the radar as one of the area’s running backs to watch moving forward.
Easton Tarble (Whitney, Junior)
When Whitney needed someone to make a play, Tarble kept answering.
The Wildcats trailed Twelve Bridges 34-21 in the third quarter before mounting a comeback that culminated in a 35-34victory and snapped the Raging Rhinos’ remarkable 32-game regular-season winning streak.
Tarble was at the center of it.
First came a 58-yard touchdown run. Then, after Whitney took control, he scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to put the Wildcats ahead.
Twelve Bridges still had one final opportunity, and Tarble ended it.
The junior came up with the game-sealing interception, completing one of the most memorable individual performances of the young season.
Whitney is now 3-0 for the first time since 2008, and Tarble has become one of the biggest reasons why.
