Three seasons, 11 games and finally a break for J.B. Lageman, the now former walk-on defensive lineman from Huntington.

And I don’t want to alarm you, but a kid who played three games his first two years and eight last season is the backup defensive tackle behind Will Clarke — and Clarke is going to play all over the line in 2012.

The good news is that Lageman, who’s not going to short you on effort or desire, believes he’s a good fit for the way this defensive line will align and acquit itself. Good story and you can’t hold his sticktoitiveness or his right-place, right-time good fortunate against him.

“Yeah, I mean there were times in my career, to be honest, where I didn’t see any light at the end of the tunnel,” said Lageman, who has played only in 11 career games, eight of those last season. “It was tough taking my blows, keep coming back and being a scout team guy, kind of being a tackling dummy every day.

“But now it’s really paying off huge, the possibility of maybe being a starter or at least a mainstay player. It’s a huge accomplishment for me.”