FREEPORT — Freeport senior nose tackle Logan Thimons pays plenty of attention to numbers.

Negative ones, that is.

The West Virginia University recruit finds himself triple-teamed at times, but still finds ways to make an impact. He's produced 62 tackles for loss over the past three seasons, including 18 through the Yellowjackets' first five games this year.

“If I just tie up blockers, I'm OK with it,” Thimons said. “We have other guys who will make the plays.

“Besides, the more attention I draw and blockers I have to take on only make me a better player.”

That's hard to fathom.

A starter since his freshman year, the 6-foot-1, 230-pound Thimons compiled 122 tackles — 24 for loss — during his junior season. With 78 tackles and 17 for loss through five games this season, he is well on pace to shatter those numbers.

“My goal has always been to get more tackles than the year before,” Thimons said.

He's getting a lot more tackles than everybody. Matt Horm is second on the team with 39 tackles — half as many as Thimons.

And the way Thimons gets his tackles can be different.

“Logan is an intelligent kid and he's so good at reading and anticipating plays,” Freeport defensive line coach Tim Walters said. “We line him up all over the field — nose guard, middle linebacker, defensive end — to disguise where he's coming from and he always finds the ball.

“When offenses run away from him or on the few times he doesn't read the play accurately, Logan just runs people down. As a nose guard, he'll make tackles 25 yards from where he was at the start of the play. You just don't see stuff like that.”

Walters credits Thimons' work ethic for his development as a player.

“All the running and lifting he does is incredible,” the coach said. “This kid loves to work out. And he's motivated by the idea that a lot of people question if he's a legitimate Division I player.”

Freeport head coach John Gaillot describes Thimons as “a bull along the line of scrimmage.”

“The kid is just a football player,” Gaillot said. “We can line him up anywhere on the field and he would stand out. We put him on kickoff coverage and he's gotten downfield to make the tackle seven or eight times this year.”

Thimons carries a 4.5 grade point average and is undecided on a major in college — engineering or pre-med.

He plans to put on another 15 to 20 pounds before joining the Mountaineers, where he is projected to play middle or outside linebacker. Thimons will graduate from Freeport in January.

“I'll get down there (WVU) early and start working out, get ready for the next level,” Thimons said.

“I just love to play football. You have to keep improving. I verbally committed to West Virginia early, but I've never stopped working at my game. And I'm out here playing with my friends. As a team, there's a lot we want to accomplish.”

Gaillot said loyalty is a trait not lost on Thimons.

“Loyalty isn't a word used too often in sports anymore, but it means plenty to Logan,” Gaillot said. “Once he verbally committed to WVU, he committed to WVU. And he commits his best effort to his teammates here every day.”

Nothing will stop Thimons from enjoying the game he loves.

“Teams game-plan to stop me and, yeah, that can get frustrating at times,” he said. “But it's also challenging. I've never taken one single game for granted.

“When I was in junior high and saw the number of seniors who would be graduating from the varsity, I knew I stood a good chance of starting as a freshman. I just went for it.”

Four years, 314 tackles and 12 forced fumbles laster, Thimons is still going for it.

“He is one of a kind,” Walters said.