Rocklin had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 40.3 points) and they went ahead and made it four on Friday. They took down the Granite Bay Grizzlies 35-21. Given the Thunder's advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked 32nd, while the Grizzlies are ranked 94th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
This one was won in the trenches and the lion's share of the credit has to go to Derek Keeley and he. Keeley rushed for 142 yards and a touchdown while he rushed for 142 yards and a touchdown. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Rocklin was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 263 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 233 rushing yards in four consecutive games.
Rocklin didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Malachi Kendall and Keeley.
Despite the loss, Granite Bay still got an impressive performance from Darnell Turner Jr., who picked up 91 receiving yards and a touchdown, and also rushed for 57 yards and a touchdown. Isaiah Ene was another key player, rushing for 83 yards and a touchdown.
Rocklin pushed their record up to 7-1 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. As for Granite Bay, their loss ended a four-game streak of away wins and brought them to 6-2.
Rocklin will square off against Del Oro at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Rocklin is facing Del Oro at the right time seeing as Del Oro is stuck on a five-game losing streak. As for Granite Bay, they will look to defend their home field on Friday against Davis Sr. at 7:00 p.m. Granite Bay is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 32.1 points per game this season.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
