For the first time in a long time, Todd Beamer Titans’ rover Jayshayn Ware was speechless.

Ware, whom teammates consider to be one of the most vocal players on the roster, leads his teammates onto the field before every game. Once on the sideline, he goes down the line and shouts encouragement to the team. He’s equally vocal on the field.

But after the Titans’ 10-3 win over Auburn Mountainview last Friday, with Memorial Stadium nearly empty and with the downpour still going strong, there stood Ware.

Alone, in silence, staring at the final score on the stadium scoreboard.

“Feels really good,” Ware finally said. “We’ve been working since last year ended. Should have been league champs last year.”

Ware pointed to the scoreboard: “It feels good to finally be able to dominate in our league.”

While Todd Beamer (6-1, 5-0) has been dominant, going 5-0 since its week 2 loss to Mount Rainier, Ware has been equally dominant in the Titans’ secondary. He has three interceptions during Beamer’s five-game win streak, with the most crucial one delivered during the win over the Lions.

Auburn Mountainview was stalled on a third-and-long, and Lions quarterback Talan Alfrey was forced to throw.

Ware said he had trouble reading the ball from the quarterback when he first arrived in coach Darren McKay’s system. Over his four years, though, Ware said he’s worked for hours each day since, reading passes and having his eyes glued to a moving football.

“Coach is just letting me be free,” Ware said. “I’m reading balls really well now in practice, which has me hyped up. I get to play center field in this defense, so I get plenty of time to read the ball.”

“Jayshayn was a little rough around the edges,” McKay added. “But he’s really improved and has become a leader on this defense.”

On Ware’s third down interception play, Alfrey looked in Ware’s direction. The senior was ready.

Ware said it was Alfrey’s eyes that tipped him off to where the ball was going. He immediately broke to the Lions’ receiver on the left side, got in front of him and intercepted Alfrey’s pass.

Ware said his teammates helped, telling him the trajectory of the ball.

“When I see (the ball), I just break on it,” Ware said. “The biggest part is I trust my teammates. They always block for me when I make a pick. And I was just one block away from taking this one to the house.”

Ware was brought down after a 20-yard interception return, putting Beamer’s offense on the Auburn Mountainview 20.

While he didn’t get the pick-6, Ware’s first quarter interception allowed the Titan’s to tie the game at 3-3 after a 36-yard field goal from Dylan Alley.

Ware said focusing on Alfrey’s eye movement, in addition to watching film the previous three day on the Auburn Mountainview quarterback, contributed to his success.

“When (Alfrey) rolls out, they run their tight end on a seam,” Ware said of his interception. “I saw him coming out, and I was going to break on the quarterback, but I remember from film that the tight end would come up on my back end. So I sat back with him, and the quarterback threw it right to me.”

Ware was also one of the first defenders to get to Alfrey on the final play. Two weeks ago against Auburn Riverside, it was Ware jumping in front of a Tiano Malietufa pass for an interception.

He proved to be a pest for Federal Way quarterback Gabe Togia as Ware picked him off, too, the week before Auburn Riverside.

Ware and the Beamer defense kept the game a 3-3 standstill until 6:06 of the third quarter, when Alfrey fumbled a snap and the Titans recovered.

Beamer running back Billy Vann made it 10-3 a few plays later on a 5-yard run play.

McKay said the Titans had a good idea the play call was a run play for Bitner Wilson, so he wanted to make sure Beamer made contact with the 220-pound senior running back

“He’s going to get the ball,” McKay said. “We made contact with him at the five, but he got a little close to home.”

Linebacker Alexx Schmidt made the initial tackle, but Ware was right there to make sure Wilson didn’t go any further.

Ware’s the player who fires up this Titans teammates before, during and after the game. After Friday’s win, Beamer’s inspirational voice had few words. But they were enough.

“Hard work pays off,” he said. “We do everything as a team. When you know the guy next to you is going to make a play, and the guy next to him will, and next to him, that’s what’s been working for us.”