SPRINGDALE — When Blake Gri◊th gets in a game on Friday nights, he instantly becomes a completely di◊erent person.

Griffith, who normally has a laid back and somewhat reserved personality, said the adrenaline rush he gets before and during games is something he constantly feeds offof to be successful.

Whether it means “talking smack” at the line or yelling at some of his teammates to get them motivated or “pumped up,” Gri◊th is always the player that’strying to keep his team ready for the next best thing.

“That’s just me, that’s what I do,” said Gri◊th, who’s started on the defensive line for two years. “To me, that’s football. You have to be aggressive; you have to be pumped up, and you have to ready to make a play no matter what the situation is.”

This season, Griffith has been dominant for Springdale’s defense, totaling 50 tackles, including 11 for a loss, eight quarterback pressures and two sacks.

One of Griffith’s sacks came in a loss against Rogers Heritage two weeks ago and the other was against Fort Smith Southside on Oct. 9.

Although Springdale’s defense hasn’t had the best of seasons, Griffith said he and his teammates can’t keep dwelling on the negatives if they want to win any more games.

“Yeah, we’ve been real up and down this season,” Gri◊th said. “That’s part of the game.

We’vebeen really inconsistent at times, and that’s been frustrating. But we all know we can get better and make the best of any situation.”

Springdale defensive line coach Ronnie Waid said Gri◊th is the kind of player any coach wants, not just because of his constant leadership for other players, but because of his willingness to constantly improve and help the team win.

“He’s our leader; he’s the guy that makes our defense play well,” Waid said. “I could throw him in any other position on the line, and he’d know exactly what to do or where to go. There’s a reason he never comes o◊the fi eld, because when we’re without Blake Gri◊th, we’re not as good of a defense.”

Griffith said one of the areas he tried to improve on last summer was his speed,something he felt he lacked greatly last fall.

“I knew I needed to getbetter, to get faster,” Gri◊th said. “If any of us want to be e◊ective on defense, we have to be faster in every way, and I worked hard to do that.”

Gri◊th proved his leadership qualities last fall when he was given the Springdale armband, a symbolic band that’s been handed down by Springdale’s defensive seniors for more than the last fi ve years.

“He’s a total team player, a team guy,” Springdale defensive coordinator Jeff Jones said. “He’s not only a leader for our defense, but for our entire team. All of our players look up to Blake because they know what kind of focus and dedication he puts into this team, and it’s all because he wants to see us win. That’s always been the bottom line for Blake.”

Sports, Pages 7 on 11/03/2009

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