By admin 
The best is yet to come for the best skill player in the Sacramento region in 2026. He is a quarterback named Brody Rudnicki.
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So says his Folsom Bulldogs head coach, Paul Doherty.
Rudnicki starred as a backup last season in earning accolades for how he handled his role, and he especially sparkled as a starter in two epic playoff games that added to his growing legacy of a big-game performer without breaking much of a sweat.
On Wednesday morning, Rudnicki announced that he has given a verbal pledge to play for Cal on a full athletic scholarship. That’s quite a feat for rising-fast national prospect who has started just twice in varsity football, but what a pair of starts they were.
The 6-foot-2, 210-pound, 4.2-GPA student stepped in for a hobbled Ryder Lyons — a three-time Sacramento Bee Player of the Year and a two-time California Gatorade Player of the Year deemed one of the top prospects in the country at any position who signed with BYU — and he delivered.
“The biggest thing is his best football is ahead of him, and we’re all excited for him,” Doherty said. “We think he can play at the highest level. He’s shown it. He’s always consistent, and that’s a big deal — in practice, in class, in big games.”
In his first start early last season, Rudnicki completed 18 of 23 passes for 316 yards and five touchdowns and no interceptions on a 49-7 nonleague win over Sacred Heart Prep of San Francisco. Lyons cheered him on from the sideline as the two friends worked closely together throughout the season, pushing each other in healthy competition.
When Lyons was leveled on a crushing-but-legal hit in the third quarter of a CIF Northern California title game against unbeaten Riordan of San Francisco, Rudnicki’s magic saved the day in what was looking like a lost cause.
Rudnicki coolly led the dramatic rally in front of an overflow crowd at Folsom’s Prairie City Stadium, completing 8 of 9 passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns in the dramatic 42-38 victory. His runs also set up scores, and his calm fired up a home crowd that was chilled by the December weather.
With Lyons nursing a separated shoulder in the CIF State final against Cathedral Catholic of San Diego, Rudnicki took the field as defense zeroed in on him and the fog settled into Saddleback College’s stadium in Orange County.
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In fog so dense that many fans in the stands could not see much of the field, Doherty and his Folsom coaching staff had Rudnicki run through the defense. He rushed 24 times for 186 yard and four touchdowns, and he passed for 117 yards and two scores to engineer a 42-28 triumph for Folsom’s second CIF State crown in three seasons and sixth since 2010.
The first man to embrace and celebrate Rudnicki was Lyons. Their friendship, bond and support was an example of sportsmanship at a championship level. Rudnicki, like Lyons, regularly credited his linemen, his skill players, the defense and the coaches for the team’s success.
“It takes a lot of maturity to handle the backup role like Brody did,” Doherty said. “Ryder was the face of our program, the face of the franchise, the face of Sacramento football, the best player in the country, and Brody took advantage of his opportunities.
“He and Ryder had a tremendous relationship here, very genuine, organic and real, competitive, supportive and fun. Many, many, many days, Brody outplayed Ryder in practice, and Ryder knew it, and then Ryder would come back and just crush it in practice and in games. Brody stayed ready.”
Mellow by nature and polite to everyone except the defenses he carved up, Rudnicki chose Cal over Utah and BYU. He transferred into Folsom from Oak Ridge High of El Dorado Hills before his sophomore season as a long shot who made it.
“We lost nine quarterbacks to transfer in a 24-month span, and Brody was the only one who transferred in,” Doherty said. “He bet on himself, and he won.”
Where they may play
Here is peek at Sacramento-area football players who have given verbal commitments to NCAA Division I programs. Commitments become binding with signed letters of intent either during the early signing period in December or in February.
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Lua DeBerry, Folsom, DL, Sacramento State
Rob Larson, Folsom, WR, UCLA
Zo Edwards, Grant, WR Cal
Gage Esty, Placer, OL, to UCLA
Deshaun Jackson, Liberty Ranch, OL, Nevada
Trace Murchison, Woodcreek, WR, Cal Poly
Brody Rudnicki, Folsom, QB, Cal
Koby Shabazz, Grant, WR, Sacramento State
Jayson Williams, Grant, RB, Fresno State