Meet the Puyallup cornerback who has picked off three Division I-bound QBs in the end zone this season
Graham-Kapowsin High School quarterback Dylan Morris plans to sign with the Washington Huskies next month. Mount Si’s Cale Millen is headed to Oregon. And Union’s Lincoln Victor is considering five college offers.
What do these three Division I-bound quarterbacks have in common?
Puyallup cornerback Ben Rodriguez has picked off all of them in the end zone this season.
“When you’re backed up against the end zone, the defense has to make a play,” said Rodriguez, who has a team-leading five interceptions for the Vikings. “Just having that mentality that I have to make a play, and I have to help my team out right there, all three of them I was just ready to make a play and I did.”
Rodriguez, a 6-foot-3, 175-pound senior, sees the significance of intercepting those three vaunted quarterbacks. But, he and Puyallup coach Gary Jeffers are much more excited about how the senior’s timely plays and intuition on the field have helped lift the fifth-seeded Vikings (11-1) to the Class 4A state semifinals.
“He’s just a good athlete with great length, and he’s super smart,” Jeffers said of Rodriguez, who is a two-year starter. “He’s really grown into his athleticism the last part of last year, and then all of this year. We always knew he was a smart player.
“He’s just matured physically, and athletically, and really taken great ownership of the position and enjoyed playing it. I couldn’t be prouder of him.”
Rodriguez will be one of the defensive keys for the Vikings as they meet top-seeded Union (12-0) for the second time this season in this weekend’s semifinals at 1 p.m. Saturday at McKenzie Stadium in Vancouver.
Puyallup lost the first meeting, 38-31, during a road trip in Week 5, but Rodriguez says the Vikings’ defense has grown throughout the season, and is ready for this test.
“Our entire defense, we just have this mentality that we’re the best, and we’re going to go out there no matter who we’re facing — no matter if they’re a spread, if they’re a power team, or what offers their (players) have — and play ball,” Rodriguez said. “We trust each other. We’re brothers out here. If something bad happens, we’ll pick (each other) up. We’ll make the next play.”
Rodriguez would know about making big defensive plays — he’s been doing it all season.
The first of his three end-zone interceptions came a week before the Vikings traveled to Vancouver the first time. Puyallup and 4A SPSL rival Graham-Kapowsin battled to a 34-34 tie at the end of regulation.
The Vikings scored on their opening possession of overtime, but it was Rodriguez sealed the win when the Eagles got their chance.
“It was overtime, first play of the (drive). We knew we needed some plays, and we’re up a score, so it’s big,” Rodriguez said. “If we win that game, it puts us in the lead for the league championship.
“I kind of saw it off of film earlier. (Morris) faked a handoff, kind of dropped back, and as soon as the tight end on my side didn’t (release), I knew there was someone over the top. So, I just dropped back, saw the receiver, saw the ball, and just made a play on it. It was awesome.”
The win over Graham-Kapowsin ended up deciding the 4A SPSL title in Puyallup’s favor, and knowing then that might be the case, Rodriguez’s teammates swarmed him in the end zone that night at Art Crate Field in Spanaway.
“When I first caught it, Cohen Cleek kind of tackled me to the ground, and then I just felt everyone else jumping on top of me, and all of the weight,” Rodriguez said. “I couldn’t see, it was just dark, and I was holding on to that ball like, ‘This is crazy, I can’t believe I just caught that.’ Everything going through my mind at that moment — it was nuts.”
Rodriguez struck again the following week against Union, leaping and high-pointing the ball to pick off Victor in the end zone in the second half before the Titans ultimately dialed up a 21-point, fourth-quarter comeback.
“It was a corner route,” Rodriguez said. “I saw Lincoln go back to throw, and I just dropped and made a play on it. I knew it was a big point in the game ... and we had a (lead). I just knew I had to make a play on the ball, and I did.”
Rodriguez had a pair of interceptions during Puyallup’s shutout of Olympia the following week — four of his five interceptions came in a three-week span — including one he returned 29 yards for his first career touchdown.
His most recent pick came against Millen last week in the state quarterfinals in Snoqualmie, when the Vikings were hanging on to a 33-21 lead late in the third quarter.
Though the Wildcats would eventually trim the lead to five points early in the fourth, Rodriguez’s pick stymied a drive that could have shifted momentum back to Mount Si.
“At first, I was in the flat, just guarding that pass, and then I saw some guy creep into the corner, and I just dropped back,” Rodriguez said. “I just laid out for that ball and caught it. It was crazy. I didn’t expect to be able to make that play. I just laid out there, hoping to bat it down, and I caught it.”
Jeffers could hear Rodriguez break down each of his interceptions after the Vikings wrapped up practice at Sparks Stadium earlier this week. He says the film study Rodriguez puts in each week is one of the biggest reasons he is so successful in Puyallup’s secondary.
“He has the physical skills, he has the length that is going to be able to get him in place, but Ben watches a ton of film,” Jeffers said. “Ben knows by formation, by down and distance. Like, I heard him talking about when the tight end didn’t release against G-K — he knew they were going to run a post. He just knows where to put himself based on his preparation.”
Most of Puyallup’s steady defense, including linebacker Danny Uluilakepa, who has a classification-leading 160 tackles, puts in the extra preparation on and off the field, and it has yielded results.
“We all have a really strong bond, and we’re all like brothers,” Uluilakepa said. “We all just talk to each other, and tell each other what’s happening, and we fix everything that needs to be fixed.”
The Vikings are focused on making sure those defensive results help them to an appearance in the Tacoma Dome next week.
“We’ve worked for this our entire lives,” Rodriguez said. “Every single one of us on this team, we’re brothers. We love each other. We’ve been there not just for football, but for life. ... We’re just in the moment right now, this is our goal, and we just want to win a state championship.”
This story was originally published November 23, 2018 at 11:58 PM.
