Griffith senior Rosalio Cortez has various talents and interests.

But he boils it down to a singular focus.

“I make everything about football,” Cortez said. “When I’m on my free time, I watch film on who we’re going up against or on myself, just to get better.

“I’ve worked on my craft any time I could get, whether it’s at the school doing football workouts or on my own time at a field. Just getting work in.”

That work has paid dividends for Cortez. In his third season as a starter, the 6-foot-3, 220-pound defensive end/tight end has 45 tackles with 15 for loss, eight sacks, two fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles. Those totals all pace the Panthers (6-1, 2-0), who close the regular season with back-to-back Greater South Shore Conference South games before they embark on what Corte

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