Whether it be catching passes or laying out a big hit, Bo Brummel is one of the key pieces on an Arlington Eagles football team that has high hopes for the 2011 season.

The Eagles finished with an 8-3 record last season. They lost to Bellarmine Prep in the first round of the state playoffs, a gam

e in which the Eagles’ starting quarterback, Blake McPherson, did not play and Brummel and starting running back Riley Cobb were both in their first game back after being sidelined with injuries.

This year, the Eagles are back at full strength and are looking to make a deeper run in the playoffs, relying on players such as Brummel and other senior leaders to make that happen.

But it isn’t just Brummel’s on-field accomplishments that make him special. It doesn’t take a long conversation with him to hear the maturity that is often uncharacteristic of an 18-year-old, something that his father, Bud Brummel is extremely proud of.

“I’ve given him a lot of room and he has made the right choices,” Bud Brummel said. “I’m extraordinarily proud of whatever he does, as long as he tries his best.”

Taken under the wing
Brummel credits former Arlington player Jake Parduhn, who was a senior when Brummel was a sophomore, for allowing him to feel comfortable at the varsity level. Brummel was in his first year as a varsity starter when Parduhn, a running back, took him under his wing.

“He helped me bond with the team and helped me feel more comfortable with them, so he was a big part of that,” Brummel said. “He was the good guy on the football team. I hung out with the rest of the good guys too, it just kind of made me more comfortable. He was the captain also, so it was nice to have the captain do that.”

Hard work, character, discipline
These are important words to the Eagles football team. Brummel calls them “the crest” of the team. He says the team isn’t much for talking and the players try to let their play on the field take care of that.

Brummel is one of the leaders trying to instill the Eagles mantra in the younger players, but he says he is not alone.

“Of the returning starters, we have a lot of leaders on the team,” Brummel said. “I am one of them and we have our quarterback. … We have a lot of good leaders on the team.”

Longtime dream
It seems more likely to say when Brummel puts on a college uniform, than to say if. It is something that he has been working toward for many years.

“Football has always been my favorite sport, so I have always dreamed about playing football at the next level,” Brummel said.

It doesn’t hurt that Brummel has always had the size of a football player.

“I’ve been genetically big,” Brummel said. “My dad is a big guy. He is 6-3, 6-4 and my mom is pretty tall. It’s all genetics.”

Oregon ties
Brummel has had several schools look his direction for his play on the football field and is seriously considering Portland State University. Though, he says he won’t make his final decision until after the season.

Bud Brummel is from Eugene — so for Bo — potentially going to college in Oregon makes sense.

But the ties don’t end there.

Steve Cooper, the wide receivers coach at Portland State, went to Myrtle Point High School in Oregon. Coincidentally, so did Bud Brummel. The two know many of the same people from the small town.

Brummel says his father has also always been a University of Oregon fan, and holds out some hope of his son becoming a Duck.

“That would be really neat,” Brummel said.

Said Bud Brummel: “it would be a dream come true.”