FORT WORTH, Texas — Everything fits for Ken Lamendola being right at home playing linebacker.
For starters, Lamendola is a classic linebacker’s name. If he were acting the part, his rugged looks would have box-office appeal. He has that confident but not cocky demeanor that suggests if you’re in an alley fight, you want him on your side.
But it’s on the field where Lamendola displays the linebacker credentials that count. In his first season as a starter for the Falcons, the 6-foot-2, 230-pound sophomore from Ohio led Air Force with 112 tackles, second best in the Mountain West Conference.
To say that Lamendola is an active linebacker is an understatement. His season included a string of four straight games with at least 10 tackles, a career-best 14 tackles against Navy, 11 against Wyoming and 12 each against Utah and Houston, Air Force’s opponent Wednesday in the Armed Forces Bowl.
“You have to be a little crazy,” Lamendola answered when asked the key to playing linebacker. “My high school has a hard-nosed football program that stresses defense and running the ball. That’s where it got started for me. You have to get after it and not sit back to play linebacker.”
The roots go to St. Edward High School in Westlake, Ohio, the same school at which former Air Force quarterback Shaun Carney played.
Lamendola’s game isn’t just crashing into opposing ball carriers. His interception against Colorado State helped the Falcons to a 38-17 victory.
Lamendola’s breakthrough into prominence this year was timely for coach Troy Calhoun and his defensive unit. The Falcons were hit by graduation at linebacker with the loss of Drew Fowler and John Rabold.
“I knew I could be a good player,” said Lamendola, who played in four games last season as a freshman. “I had to learn the defense better and it took some time. But it’s the players around me and the coaching staff that make me the player that I am.”
Inside linebackers coach Matt Wallerstedt, in his first season on the Air Force coaching staff, already has an opinion.
“I’ll take Ken Lamendola any day,” Wallerstedt said. “He can run and cover ground and he has good instincts. . . . He’s learning the game and has some ways to go.”
A broken leg in the first game of his senior season took Lamendola off the recruiting radar for some of the bigger college programs.
Calhoun sees the quality, but he also sees the need for Lamendola to keep busy in the weight room.
“He has a feel for playing the game, which is monstrous, especially as an inside linebacker,” Calhoun said. “He has a chance down the road to be one heck of a player for us.”
Lamendola is on his way to following in the footsteps of previous Air Force linebacker stalwarts, players such as Jim Morris, Terry Maki and Chris Gizzi.
“We’ve had some really good linebackers over the years,” Calhoun said. “I like the direction of the path he’s following.”
Lamendola and the rest of the defense have a tough task against Houston, a team the Falcons have already beaten this season. The Cougars are led by quarterback Case Keenum, who led college football in total offense with 4,993 yards.
“He can make a lot of plays with his legs,” Lamendola said. “But if he’s able to sit back and pick us apart passing, we’ll be in trouble.”
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
