BORON, Calif. -- Inside the school cafeteria Thursday night, Boron High receiver Joshua Glass moved with a sense of purpose as he delivered plates of spaghetti, salad and garlic bread to members of the Mojave Mustangs.
Less than a week ago, the senior had considered anyone who played for the neighboring school a fierce rival.
Not anymore.
"There is no enemy this year," Glass said somberly.
Minutes later, Boron Athletic Director Jim Boghosian tearfully greeted players from another desert competitor, Rosamond High, shaking each of their hands and thanking them as they entered.
The line stretched out the door well into the evening as hundreds from this outpost of about 2,000 attended a dinner to benefit the family of Vinnie Rodriguez, a sophomore safety and running back who died Tuesday night after he was taken off life support. He had suffered head injuries four days earlier while making what appeared to be a routine tackle during a game.
If there was one young man capable of pulling rivals together, Rodriguez's teammates said, it was Vinnie, a speck of a 16-year-old who delivered a weekly pregame speech and openly spoke his mind to coaches.
After a season-opening victory over Rosamond -- a game in which the 5-foot-5, 135-pound dynamo scored two touchdowns -- Glass said Rodriguez approached Coach Todd Fink and plainly told him his practices were "weak." He didn't feel the Bobcats were in good enough condition.
"Then we started running a lot more," Glass said.
Rodriguez, who despite his lack of size and varsity experience was quickly becoming a team leader, provided a shining example even in death, school officials and family members pointed out.
His organs had been donated; one of his kidneys had gone to a second cousin, Deborah Levario, who had been waiting some five years for a transplant.
"Some people are going to be living because of him," Levario's father, Pete, said.
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The death of a young person resonates in a small town, and it has shaken this one to its core.
Drivers along Highway 58, as they pass this map dot about halfway between Mojave and Barstow, are used to seeing a massive formation of painted-white rocks forming a "B," a local landmark near the top of a hill.
But what's there now is a large "V" -- for Vinnie -- and a smaller "2," Rodriguez's football jersey number. The adjustment was painstakingly made by Bobcats players last Saturday evening, less than 24 hours after the player was stricken.
