L.A. Times All-Star football team: Lineman of the Year

Columnist

May 9, 2021 4 AM PT

This story is part of our L.A. Times 2021 All-Star football team coverage. Read the full series here.

Whatever it took, Andrew Madrigal of Norco was going to sacrifice and leave everything on the field this spring.

Madrigal is 6 feet 4 and 300 pounds, with a scholarship to Nevada. He wasn’t going to give up his senior season without devoting his focus and attention to succeeding one last time with the friends and teammates with whom he grew up.

And what a spring season the senior left offensive tackle had. His team went 5-0, won the Big VIII League championship and handed Corona Centennial a 38-36 defeat, ending the Huskies’ league winning streak at 57 games.

“One of my proudest moments was to be a leader and keep everyone going when they got mad,” said the straight-A student who volunteered to play center for one snap against Centennial when there was an injury.

“It was a great game,” he said. “I go back and watch that game all the time. It’s something I wanted to do since I’ve been at Norco. For me, I just went out with the mentality it’s my last year, last time to play against Centennial and I was going to play my butt off and not leave that field without a win.”

Madrigal will switch to center in college, so he’s already one for one on snaps after his emergency tryout.

“The coaches told me they needed to find a center. I said, ‘Let me get the snap,’” he said.