Pittsburgh Tribune
Duquesne's Elijah Fields, the Pittsburgh Trib's
Player of the Year
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Christopher Horner/TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Every game was Fields day for Duquesne star
By Kevin Gorman
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Elijah Fields knew that to lead Duquesne to a championship season meant taking over games, and he welcomed the challenge with open arms.
“I knew I had to have a big year for us to win,” Fields said. “I knew I had to take my game to the next level, to try to be unstoppable.”
Fields was just that, which is why he is the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Football Player of the Year. And why Pitt, Penn State,
Ohio State and West Virginia are battling for his services.
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound senior accounted for more than 2,000 all-purpose yards and 31 touchdowns – including 18 for 50 yards or longer – to lead Duquesne to the WPIAL Class A championship and PIAA finals.
“When I sit back and look at the numbers and the highlights,” Fields said, “I think it was amazing.”
Fields was particularly dominant in the playoffs. He scored four different ways – run, catch, interception and fumble recovery – in a WPIAL first-round win over Jefferson-Morgan, then topped the feat with five touchdowns in a quarterfinal victory over Bentworth.
What’s more, he debunked the stereotype that it had something to do with playing against weak Class A competition. Fields sandwiched scoring catches of 79 and 25 yards around a 59-yard run to account for 18 first-half points in a 50-19 loss to Southern Columbia in the PIAA finals last week in Hershey.
“He’s a Class A kid, but he could have done that at any level,” Duquesne coach Pat Monroe said. “Ask the coaches from McKeesport on down. I’m sure they viewed him the same way.”
Fields certainly believes so.
“I could do it at any level,” Fields said. “Come watch me in any all-star game.”
Don’t mistake Fields’ statement for arrogance. Off the field, he is reserved, speaking humbly in hushed tones and short sentences, and he deflects praise. When it’s game time, however, there is a transformation.
“When I put the helmet and shoulder pads on,” Fields said, “I just turn into a madman.”
One who became the first 1,000-yard receiver in Duquesne history, with 42 catches for 1,167 yards and 18 touchdowns, and rushed for 704 yards and five touchdowns on 59 carries.
Take a closer look at those numbers: Despite facing double- and triple-teams, Fields averaged 27.8 yards per catch and scored once every 2.3 catches. With defenses designed to stop him, Fields started taking direct snaps from center and running on reverses, and averaged 11.9 yards per carry.
Despite teams who threw away from him, Fields had 10 interceptions, returning two picks and a fumble recovery for touchdowns. Despite opponents who kicked away from him, Fields scored on punt returns of 83, 74, 51, 66 and 71 yards.
“He provides such a dynamic that you have to account for his every move,” Monroe said. “As a coach, it was almost like an anchor that you had. You knew that as long as he was there, nobody else was going to take over the game.”
Kevin Gorman can be reached at
kgorman@tribweb.com or (412) 320-7812.
