Crown Point senior Logan Rodriguez doesn’t have to wait anymore.

The 6-foot, 185-pound inside linebacker spent the past few seasons behind older, talented teammates whose presence kept him sidelined most Friday nights.

“Patience was the biggest thing I had to learn,” Rodriguez said. “Even though, in my eyes, I thought I was a good enough player, I just had to play the reps I was given and have that patience.”

Rodriguez’s patience was rewarded this season. He has started every game for Crown Point (10-0), which is ranked No. 3 in Class 6A in the state coaches poll and will travel to Penn (8-2) on Friday to try to win its second straight sectional title.

Rodriguez had a team-high 45 tackles, including 21 solo stops and four for loss, during the regular season and helped the Bulldogs record their second shutout during a 35-0 win against Portage in the sectional semifinals last week.

Crown Point’s defense has been especially stingy in the past five games, allowing a total of 22 points, and coach Craig Buzea said Rodriguez has been at the heart of those performances.

“We’ve always known that he had a nose for the ball,” Buzea said. “He’s a very good tackler, and he’s aggressive. We just didn’t know when it was going to click — and now it’s clicked.”

Rodriguez won’t take sole credit for his success this season.

“I know I have certain abilities that I’m good at,” he said. “But it’s the coaching and the game plans we’ve put together every week that have helped put me in position to make those tackles and have that success.”

Crown Point senior defensive lineman Josh Miller, who has a team-high five sacks, said speed is a key factor for Rodriguez.

“He’s just fast, man,” Miller said. “His reaction time is insane. All of our linebackers are making plays, but they’re not all making them as fast as he is.”

Rodriguez didn’t have that speed when he was a freshman. Summers in the weight room have been essential to his development. Buzea said players like Rodriguez are indicative of the success Crown Point has had in establishing a pipeline for freshmen to realize their potential.

“He’s one of those guys that you feel real proud of because we take a lot of pride in building a program and developing our players,” Buzea said. “He’s one who stuck with it, and you see what’s happened.”

Rodriguez said he didn’t mind taking the long road to starting for the Bulldogs.

“From my freshman year, I was just trying to take it one level at a time, and as I was moving up, I just kept trying to compete with the guy in front of me as best as I could,” he said.

Over the summer, Rodriguez knew a starting spot was available, and he said he made it a point to show up at any football-related activity he knew about.

“I went to everything,” he said. “Any time there was an opportunity for me to go to something, I went. Even if it was just helping out with the middle school team or some other event like the camps we had in the summer, I just took every opportunity to show I was willing and able and ready to take on that new role.”

Rodriguez will be in that role again at Penn, which Crown Point beat 34-33 in a regional final during its run to the state championship game last year.

“They’re probably the best challenge we’ve had this season,” Rodriguez said. “It’ll be a good game, but we should be able to give it to them once we start clicking on all cylinders.”

Dave Melton is a freelance reporter.