Photo submitted to Times Observer Warren senior linebacker Blake Arnold

It’s easy to notice Blake Arnold on the football field.

He doesn’t brag, doesn’t show off, isn’t loud, doesn’t try to outshine his teammates.

Even so, No. 4 stands out.

That’s Blake Arnold.

“He’s never wanted to play offense,” said his mom, Stephanie. “As a third-grader, he said, ‘I don’t need the glory, mom.’ He absolutely loves defense. We wish he would play offense. (Assistant coach Andrew) Morrison has tried many times to get him to try offense. He just loves to hit.”

Arnold, a senior, has three sacks, two blocked kicks, and two fumble recoveries for the 2-3 Dragons ahead of their game at 3 p.m. today at Corry.

He does the little things.

“Blake is a good athlete, much like his brother Ryan, but Blake for whatever reason never wanted anything to do with offense,” said Warren coach Mark Morelli. “Defense seemed to be his niche. He just loves to pin his ears back and get after the quarterback. The last two years he has surfaced as one of the better blitzers in our area. Though his intensity and desire sometimes gets him in trouble with missed assignments, he does tend to make a big play when we need it the most. He makes up for his lack of size with a desire for contact; his motor never stops running.”

That motor is, admittedly, due to having “a couple screws loose,” Arnold joked.

“I’d say the thing I love most about defense is that not everyone’s built for it,” said Arnold. “You definitely have to have a couple screws loose to love it as much as I do.”

Morrison has coached Arnold for six years, since Blake was a seventh-grader.

“He’s got the perfect mindset for a linebacker,” said Morrison. “He’s very intense; you can see him sort of change into a different person on game days. He’s not a big kid for his position, but he makes up for it with that intensity. We never have to question if Blake is going to make the tackle if he gets to the play. He’s always been that way. When we had him at Beaty, we were short on linemen so he played center even though he was one of the smallest kids on the team.”

He looks at defense with a different mindset.

“Nobody yelling at me,” said Arnold. “I’ve always been confident in myself, but for me when it came full circle was with big plays I was making during junior year, my first year of actual varsity time. This is the part I don’t like. I don’t like talking about everything I’m good at. It makes me feel cocky and arrogant so I, morally, decide to just let my play do the talking and you guys can see what I’m good at.”

Blake talks up his older brother, Ryan, “and all the amazing talent the boys in my grade have. … I handle my business on the field, and that’s it.”

He said his older brother being a good athlete before him “gave me the chip on my shoulder.”

Blake thanks his family for his passion.

“I just want to be the best person I can be,” he said. “I know that’s generic, but it’s true. I try to treat everyone with as much respect as possible, and that’s on my parents for raising me right.”

He’d be lying if he didn’t dream of being a quarterback when he was little.

“I tried out in sixth grade for it and got put at center, so it just wasn’t meant to be, I guess,” he said.

That fleeting dream is replaced by a goal of being “a loyal friend and strong-willed, compassionate,” he said. “I never try to judge people or put anybody above or below me. I see people for who they are. I take pride in being myself around anyone; like this is what you get and if you’re my friend, teammate, I’ll be there for you no matter what.

“I’ve been in a very dark place before and it spanned like three years,” said Arnold. “It humbled me and got me to the point that I see what really matters in life. The things people can do for each other and how one good person can do a lot for someone else.”