ONALASKA — It was the last drill in the session. It was a running back, an offensive lineman, a quarterback on one side; two defenders on the other.
The running back was Rodrigo Rodrgiuez. The two defenders were Blaze Underhill and Nick Rushton. All three were in the yellow jerseys with unique nicknames on the back, signifying as the leaders for the Onalaska High School football team. All were all-league picks a season ago.
Rodriguez took the handoff and bulldozed his teammates and smirked a bit after the whistle blew.
“He lives in our weight room, he’s bought into the program in terms of toughness and accountability,” Loggers head coach Mazen Saade said. “I’m excited for his senior year. Man, people flock to him. He’s a natural leader.
“He gives you that smirk, that smile and he just plays.”
The star tailback for Onalaska is quiet off the field, humble to boot. His game does the most talking and it has spoken loudly since his sophomore year.
He found the end zone 13 times out of the backfield and three instances on kickoff returns two years ago. Last fall, he was the 1B to quarterback Kayden Mozingo’s 1A with over 2,000 rushing yards and 22 scores.
Mozingo is Mozin-gone. Rodriguez is Rodrig-ready to shoulder the load.
“I’m just excited to play with my friends,” Rodriguez said. “It is a good feeling. I just went and trusted my coaches and teammates. They put me in a position to succeed.”
Through playing youth football with his buddies and being around the elder statesmen of the program, Saade knew of the talent coming up.
And Rodriguez was “fundamentally sound.”
“For a kid like Rodrigo, he doesn’t care how many touches he gets per game,” Saade said.
His prep career started in a tough spot. Rodriguez suffered an injury that ended his freshman season, but he was fully healthy the following fall.
He’s sitting at over 3,200 career yards, which won’t be breaking any records, but has left an impact on his teammates.
“He's a really good asset for us and he’s really good at reading the holes,” Underhill said.
Rodriguez may get the lion share of carries, but the Loggers will have plenty of options. Underhill and Lane Gordon are taking reps at quarterback, but both are expected to be on the field at the same time.
Still, the offensive line will have to create the gaps. It is on the younger side with one starter back in Justin Jacoby.
“Go as fast as you can and learn along the way,” Jacoby said. “That’s our motivation is to block for them to get far.”
The Loggers have Rushton as the anchor of the front-seven alongside Underhill. Speedster Justice Miller got reps in practice at EDGE and Rodriguez plus Cooper Lawrence, an all-state player a season ago, provides star power in the defensive back group.
They reached the Class 2B semifinals fueled by that side of 11 by allowing 15.2 points per game in nine victories.
“We’ll be really good,” Rodriguez said.
Saade has seen the group take some ups and downs in practice and in spurts during the spring and summer.
His tough-love mindset is one that the players know comes from a place of care.
“We have to remember it is the message, not the tone,” Jacoby said.
The South division in the C2BL features a quarterfinalist in Toledo plus two new 11-on-11 schools in Mossyrock and Winlock.
Still, Onalaksa believes nothing will be given despite winning on a consistent basis.
“Our goal is to win the league, get to the state playoffs and we’re just happy to be there,” Underhill said. “Trust each other as a team.”
