Free State football player Jay Dineen pulls in a pass during drills at the Free State High School football camp Tuesday, June 2 at FSH.

It’s impossible to miss Free State High junior linebacker Jay Dineen in the middle of the Firebirds’ defense.

Watch a few plays and Dineen will make a tackle, jump up and do a celebratory fist pump while trying to fire up his teammates and fans.

Free State’s football team relies on Dineen to make big plays each game. At the same time, he’s become the heart and soul of the defense, leading the Firebirds into the Class 6A state semifinals against Derby at 7 p.m. Friday at Derby.

“Jay just gets our defense excited,” senior linebacker Sam Skwarlo said. “He’s a really hyper kid so he’s fun to be around. He brings a lot of excitement to the team. He just makes huge plays. Lots of tackles for losses. He’s always flying around the field.”

Dineen plays football with an old-school mentality. He zips to ball carriers, sheds blockers like he’s swatting flies and he wrestles opponents to the ground. He was a starting linebacker as a sophomore, missing a few games with a leg injury. This season, he’s adjusted to a new defensive scheme and played better than ever.

He ranks third on the team with 47 solo tackles. He registered several tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble in last week’s quarterfinal victory against Wichita Northwest.

“Going into the season, I felt really confident,” Dineen said. “Just seeing how the fast game was last year and getting used to the game. It comes natural now. It’s slowing down a lot.”

But Dineen’s impact isn’t limited to one side of the ball.

In the third week of the season, the Firebirds moved Dineen from a fullback role to a full-time run-blocker. Without any previous experience, he’s started at offensive guard for the past nine games.

At first, Dineen wasn’t sure he wanted to move into the trenches of the offensive line. He always envisioned himself as a pass catcher and playmaker. But once he saw how much he could help the team, he’s enjoyed the switch.

The toughest part of the offensive line wasn’t learning the new assignments. It wasn’t matching up against tough defensive linemen. It was changing his jersey number from 43 to 50, so he could identify as a lineman according to uniform regulations.

“I’ve always been 43,” Dineen said. “My grandpa was 43. My dad wore 43.”

Skwarlo, who has run for 1,478 yards and 21 touchdowns this season, added: “The first two weeks were a little slow for the running game. At least the first week was. Jay came in and pretty much just killed it. He’s getting better every week.”

A power forward in basketball, Dineen looks exactly how a person imagines a linebacker on a basketball court. Nothing finesse. All power.

It’s the same on the football field, just with more physicality. Nobody was caught off guard by his talents, especially after watching him play over the years.

“His mom was athletic, his dad was athletic, his brothers were athletic, he’s athletic,” FSHS coach Bob Lisher said. “So there’s no surprise there. Football is kind of his love. He gets after it. He learns every day and just gets better.”

Dineen has his eyes set on helping his team reach the state championship game. The Firebirds lost to Hutchinson in the semifinals last season, and haven’t reached the state title game since 2008.

“At the beginning of the year, a lot of people doubted us because we started off really slow,” Dineen said. “I knew we were going to pick it up and that our defense was going to click and our offense was going to click.

“To be the first team to get over the hump since 2008 would be awesome.”