Drew Rodriguez vs. TC Manumaleuna II: Week 7 showcased 2 top Oregon prospects on different ends of recruiting journey

By René Ferrán | Photos by Leon Neuschwander 

Two of the state’s top recruits squared off on a simple third-and-3 play midway through the fourth quarter of a Week 7 regular-season game. 

Whether Sprague senior safety Drew Rodriguez and North Salem junior quarterback TC Manumaleuna II will face each other in a couple of years at the college level remains to be seen.

Rodriguez committed to Colorado State University in July, and he’ll most likely make it official during the December early signing period. Manumaleuna has another year before choosing from an offer list that includes Florida State, Louisville, Miami and Oregon, which made its offer the summer before his freshman year.

But on this balmy Thursday night at Olympic Stadium, Manumaleuna lined up for a critical third-down play, looking to lead the Vikings on a tying drive. To his left, Rodriguez matched up against North Salem’s top receiver, Erick Gonzalez, with an inkling of what he might see.

“I saw they ran a hitch before,” Rodriguez said. “It’s third-and-3, and I’m thinking, hitch again.”

Gonzalez ran just beyond the first-down stick, then stopped short to collect the pass. Rodriguez was ready.

“I saw the cut, saw the ball come off the QB’s hands,” he said matter-of-factly. “And I just took it to the house.”

Manumaleuna took ownership of the play after the game.

“I thought I could hit that,” he said. “But I’ve got to look into my other options and reads. Drew’s a great player, and he did what he does.”

To that point, Rodriguez had a quiet game — four tackles and two catches for 37 yards, albeit one an acrobatic 24-yarder in which he beat double coverage, high-pointed the ball and managed to get one foot inbounds along the sideline in front of the Vikings bench.

In a blink of an eye, his 30-yard interception return for a touchdown pushed Sprague’s lead to 26-13 en route to a 26-19 victory.

“He made the most impactful play of the game with his interception,” Vikings coach Jeff Flood said. “And the catch along the sideline showed why he is such a special talent. Not many high school receivers can make that play.” 

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Rodriguez has made those types of plays since arriving on the Olympians’ campus in south Salem in the fall of 2019. Even then, coach Jay Minyard knew he had someone special joining the program.

“Drew was already pretty mature as a freshman — a little skinny, but small and fast,” Minyard recalled. “We knew he was ready to play on Friday nights even the summer before his freshman year. We also knew he had the ability to play at a high level on Saturday afternoons.” 

That season, a 6-foot, 170-pound Rodriguez earned all-Mountain Valley Conference honorable mention at safety — the only freshman in the conference to make the all-conference team. He considered himself a basketball-first player before that season, but becoming a varsity starter in Week 1 quickly changed his perspective.

“I started doing more 7-on-7, started training a lot more for just football,” he said. “I love football more, so that’s where it took me.”

Over the next three years, his repertoire expanded, becoming a top receiver and returner. Last fall, he made the all-conference team at four positions — first team at receiver (29 catches for 452 yards and seven touchdowns), kick returner and safety (five interceptions) and second team at punter.

He’s dropped punting duties this season but still rarely leaves the field. After Thursday’s game, the 6-2, 205-pounder has 29 catches for 548 yards and nine touchdowns to go with 43 tackles and two interceptions. Minyard has given Rodriguez free rein to make calls on the field in certain situations based on his improved understanding of the game and the team’s schemes.

Rodriguez’s Week 4 performance at Roseburg epitomizes the impact he has in all three phases of the game. He accounted for four touchdowns in the 56-14 victory — returning a kick for a score, catching a touchdown pass, running for a score and throwing a touchdown pass.

“I think that shows his diverse abilities pretty well,” Minyard said.

He’s also the one to provide the fiery halftime talks when things aren’t going the Olympians’ way.

“He comes in, just screaming his head off, and it’s like a scene from Braveheart,” said senior lineman Cole Steketee. “He gives a motivational speech, gets everyone riled up, and we get after it. You saw tonight, when we came out in the second half, the energy boost is insane.

“Drew is an interesting character, because he will get you so pissed off that you’re just like, ‘Oh, man, I hate you, Drew,’ but at the same time, he lights a fire under your ass, and he lifts the whole team up.”

The entire package led to offers from Montana State, Northern Colorado and Portland State, but when first-year Colorado State coach Jay Norvell offered Rodriguez a scholarship in late May, Rodriguez had found his fit. Six weeks later, he announced his decision. 

“I can play free knowing I have a good family to go home to after the season,” he said. “I’m not trying to impress anyone besides myself. It’s always a plus to know your scholarship’s there and you’re ready to go play next season. It takes the pressure off, and I’m having way more fun out here.”

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If Manumaleuna feels any pressure regarding his status as one of the state’s top recruits since garnering that Oregon offer in the summer before his freshman year, he hardly shows it.

Still, Flood said that “he wouldn’t be human if that pressure didn’t weigh on him to some degree. But it also fuels him to get better.” 

Manumaleuna doesn’t put up prolific numbers in North Salem’s wing-T offense. In Thursday’s game, he finished 6 of 19 for 80 yards, a touchdown and an interception, and he had one carry for seven yards. 

That doesn’t mean opponents don’t account for Manumaleuna when preparing for the Vikings.

“TC has been a thorn in the side of opposing coaches for what seems like forever now,” Minyard said. “It’s really scary to have to prepare for him. Coach Flood does a good job of getting you sucked up defensively to stop that wing-T, then lets TC unload some long play-action shots on you.”

Manumaleuna is better known for making plays that leave onlookers agasp and college coaches clamoring for his services. One such play came in his freshman season during his fourth career start, against South Salem in the Mayor’s Cup.

The Vikings trailed the Saxons 30-27 with 2:13 to play and faced second-and-8 from South Salem’s 24-yard line. Manumaleuna rolled left, found no one open, then tucked the ball and ran for the go-ahead score.

Like Rodriguez, he’s bulked up from his freshman season, growing three inches and adding 20 pounds to his now 6-2, 205-pound frame.

“I think I hold my own where I’m at now,” Manumaleuna said. “I’m at a pretty good point in my development. I think through preparation and going to practice and just doing what I can do and trusting the process, I can eventually get there.”

There being where Rodriguez finds himself now — a Division I commit with his future laid out before him. To get there, Manumaleuna knows he needs to work on “the little things, I guess — completing passes, being more accurate. But I think I’m getting there.”

Manumaleuna traveled to Utah after Thursday’s game and watched the Utes’ thrilling 43-42 victory over USC on Saturday. It’s the latest step in a journey that started with his first throwing lesson with Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota.

For now, he said, “there’s no favorite. I still feel like it’s pretty early in the process.”

In the meantime, he’ll continue working with Alex Brink, the former Sheldon and Washington State quarterback who co-owns EForce Sports and has trained area quarterbacks for the past decade, refining the skills many developing quarterbacks need to improve — reading defenses, progressing through their receivers, varying the touch on their throws. 

“TC will never be satisfied with his performance if he hasn’t hit every throw expected of him and made the right decision on every play,” Flood said. “He works hard enough on improving to set the bar for himself really high, but those expectations aren’t realistic of any quarterback, so he probably is a little too hard on himself.

“With that said, he is as good as he is because he has such high expectations of himself.”

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Rodriguez and Manumaleuna first met when both played for EForce during 7-on-7 league in the offseason.

Rodriguez has since moved on to play for Team Alpha, but the two still occasionally train together at a Salem gym. 

Thursday night marked the second time they faced each other on opposite sides in high school play. During the COVID spring 2021 season, when the Salem schools played a round robin, Rodriguez and the Olympians got the better of Manumaleuna and the Vikings with a 34-7 victory.

After Rodriguez moves on to Colorado State, Manumaleuna will get one last shot at the Olympians next season. Minyard, for one, will be happy to not have to face Manumaleuna again after that.

“Fortunately, we won’t have to see him anymore this year,” Minyard said. “He seems like a great kid, and we wish him the best.”