For more than three years, Rodrigo Hernandez was the outsider looking in for Stagg.

Continually consigned to the Chargers’ JV team, the senior forward was left to wonder whether the chance to play on the varsity level was ever going to be within his grasp.

“Ever since I was a freshman, I wanted to be on the varsity, so that was very hard to experience that,” he said. “I accepted it and I worked hard. I waited patiently.

“When I saw my name on the varsity squad at the start of the season, I took that opportunity and worked even harder to get to this point.”

That point came Saturday morning when Hernandez smashed home a rocket volley to send Stagg to a 1-0 victory over Bloom in the Class 3A Joliet West Sectional championship game.

Hernandez’s goal in the 23rd minute lifted the Chargers (18-3-1) to their 14th straight win and snapped the 18-game winning streak of the top-seeded Blazing Trojans (25-2).

Stagg, which won its third sectional title in program history and first since 2010, plays at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Morton Supersectional against Lyons (18-6-2), a 4-2 winner.

Hernandez’s odyssey, meanwhile, has been a boon for the Chargers.

“Rodrigo is a just dynamite kid who worked so hard to play on the varsity,” Stagg coach Mike Kealy said. “He earned his starting spot and then he lost it during the middle of the season.

“He didn’t whine — he didn’t complain or make excuses. He just continued to put in the work, and now here we are.”

The Chargers are sectional champions, while Bloom was hampered by an injury suffered Tuesday by junior forward Omar Ortiz in a 4-1 sectional semifinal victory over Andrew.

Ortiz, who suffered painful back spasms after getting spiked, had 25 goals and a team-best 27 assists. That came in collaboration with senior forward Jonathan Magana, a 37-goal scorer.

According to senior midfielder David Martinez, it made a difference for Bloom.

“This was tough,” Martinez. “We fought and we played hard, and I thought we were going to get something in the second half. I just felt like they wanted it more than we did.”

Senior central defender Sebastian Talaga was a crucial cog for Stagg in shutting down a Bloom attack that produced 117 goals this season.

He cleared a dangerous corner kick in the final minutes that marked the Blazing Trojans’ best scoring opportunity in the latter stages.

“We wanted to play really strong team defense and we wanted to man mark Magana,” Talaga said. “He has never seen anybody like (Dawid Kurjeza), who I think is one of the best defenders in the state.

“If anything got by him, then I am coming in, just sweeping everything away.”

On top of that, Hernandez’s goal just elevated the play and intensity of Stagg’s back line, which cemented the shutout in concert with senior goalkeeper Jose Flores.

“Our motto is we always want to score first,” Talaga said. “Statistically speaking, every time we score first in a game, we are pretty much impossible to beat.

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“Rodrigo stepping up and scoring the way he did just lifted our spirits. We were able to play the game that we know. We are comfortable defending halves.”

The quiet, serene Hernandez fought back tears after the game.

“I am not very talkative and I don’t really let my emotions show because it might lead to negative outcomes for the team,” he said. “I never want that to happen.

“This is my proudest moment. My dad always tells me to shoot the ball when I am outside the box, and that’s what I did.”

Stagg lost 1-0 to Lyons on Sept. 7. The Chargers are seeking their first state finals appearance in program history.

“The job is not finished yet,” Hernandez said. “We still have a long way to go. Each day we fight and study. We are eager to see what the outcome is.”

Patrick Z. McGavin is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.