Morton’s Jalen Arnold seems well suited for the linebacker position.
Consider the 5-foot-11, 220-pound sophomore’s quick response when he was asked about his favorite thing in football.
“The hitting,” Arnold said with a big grin on his face.
There’s plenty of that to come for Arnold, who has earned a starting role and made a team-high 13 tackles during Morton’s season-opening 32-23 victory against Portage in Hammond on Aug. 18.
Arnold also forced two fumbles. Morton recovered one in the second half and rallied to win after trailing by 10 points at the end of the third quarter.
Arnold might have visualized that success a little too much, though. He said he didn’t get much rest before his first start.
“I couldn’t sleep,” he said. “I was just dreaming of what plays I was going to make and how I was going to help my team win.”
Morton coach Mac Mishler offered nothing but positive reviews for Arnold and his position group, which has been revamped.
“Our whole linebacker corps played really well,” Mishler said. “We graduated everybody but one linebacker from last year’s group, so we knew we were going to be fairly young there. Going into the spring, it was all about reps and putting ourselves in position to read and react quickly.”
Arnold had an idea there could be room for him on defense after spending the majority of his freshman season on special teams.
“I was already thinking ahead to next year about who was going to step up,” he recalled.
As soon as last season ended, Arnold immersed himself in the weight room. He said he grew 2 inches and added 20 pounds of muscle, and he impressed Mishler with his work ethic.
“He attacked the offseason like few kids do,” Mishler said. “He’s grown tremendously because of that and also from a football standpoint. He reads the game so well as a linebacker. And because of all the work he put in during the offseason, he brings a heavy punch when he comes.”
Arnold also spends a lot of time watching film, to the point that the game against Portage didn’t feel unfamiliar.
“I played a lot of JV last year, so this was way faster with bigger people,” he said. “But it all still felt the same to me because I’ve been watching a lot of film.”
Senior linebacker Jermaine Johnson, Morton’s lone returning starter at the position, said Arnold’s grasp of the mental side of the game allowed him to put his physical attributes to good use.
“I noticed his speed,” Johnson said. “That was never his best attribute. It was more his strength and his size. But we he was getting downhill real fast. He looked faster than me out there.”
Arnold said he believes he will continue to improve.
“I still think I can move a lot faster and be a lot more powerful,” he said. “I’m seeing those little gaps that I can squeeze right through and make the tackle, so I feel like I can make more.”
Mishler said Arnold may get some carries at running back as the season progresses but noted several times that Morton has plenty of time to explore other ways to use him.
“It’s a huge deal for a sophomore to have a game like that because we have him for pretty much three years yet,” Mishler said. “You can see the work and the practice translate to the field with him.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
