Some of the things that Portage linebacker Drake Guerrero can do on the field leave his coach struggling to find the words to describe them.
“He kind of defies gravity sometimes,” Portage coach Darren Rodriguez said. “Linemen will try to block him, and he just slithers underneath them. You go back and say, ‘Did he really do that?'”
There’s a simple explanation for where Guerrero developed his knack for shedding blocks. That’s one of the many tools the 5-foot-8 senior brings to Portage (4-2, 4-0) which has won four straight ahead of Friday’s Duneland Athletic game at Michigan City.
Guerrero started playing football around the age of 8, but it was a few years before when he made his first serious sports commitment, to wrestling. Like many other football players who wrestle, Guerrero’s Friday night contributions are a result of a perfect marriage between the tools he’s acquired through football and wrestling.
“From wrestling, I’ve always been good at the solo tackle and wrapping up legs,” Guerrero said. “Reading keys and getting off blocks is what I think I’m really good at.”
Aside from the physical tools he’s learned, Guerrero said there’s a mental edge he’s carried from the wrestling mats onto the football field.
“The mindset you get from wrestling is that this guy across from me isn’t going to beat me,” Guerrero said. “That really plays a part in football.”
Rodriguez couldn’t say enough about the mutual benefits of the dual-sport athletes in football and wrestling.
“Football and wrestling go hand in hand,” he said. “It gives them that extra edge. They have that extra toughness when it comes to one-on-one competitions. Football isn’t all one on one. But there are some battles where you have to get by somebody and they’re used to a lot of that from being on the wrestling mat.”
When asked which sport he prefers, Guerrero paused for a long time and then laughed before siding with football for one easy — and understandable — reason.
“I like to eat,” he said.
Guerrero has been eating up opposing ball carriers this season, leading the Portage defense with 73 tackles, which is 22nd in the state according to MaxPreps.
While Guerrero said his confidence and comfort level have only grown during his three years as a starter on Portage’s defense, he’s having a lot more fun this year. After a 1-10 season in 2015, Portage went 6-4 in 2016.
With Guerrero in the middle, the Portage defense has allowed just 16.5 points per game on its four-game winning streak. A win on Friday night will keep Portage ahead of Valparaiso, LaPorte and Michigan City, who all are tied for second with 3-1 records.
Dave Melton is a freelance writer for the Post-Tribune.
