Hamilton’s ‘Little Train’ on Right Track for Stardom

Jay Fields probably has as much right to call himself “Little Train” as Lionel James, the former San Diego Chargers’ star running back. Maybe more.

Fields, the 5-foot-5, 150-pound Hamilton High School tailback and place-kicker, is about the same size as James, and his speed carries him through defenses swiftly.

As did James, he can deliver the ball to the end zone on the ground, and he can also strike with extra point kicks and field goals. In addition, his high, booming kickoffs usually reach the end zone and are difficult, if not impossible, to return.

Unlike James, his first name is not the same as a famous maker of model trains, but he is a railroad history buff and has a model train setup that fills his family’s garage. And one day he would like to go into the transportation business.

He is in business as Hamilton Coach John Ausbon’s favorite mode of transport on the football field.

“He is such a good runner and so maneuverable,” Ausbon said. “He does such a sweet job of following his blocking that he can pick his own hole. He is that good.

“He can find the hole, and I’m giving the ball to him. He’s good for 25 carries a game.”

The senior runner found a lot of holes in the Yankees’ opener, a 42-6 rout of Hollywood. He rushed for 188 yards on 14 carries (a 13.4-yard average), scored four touchdowns (including a 47-yarder) and kicked four extra points.

A Hamilton fan at last week’s game with Granada Hills was overheard saying that Fields did some things in the Hollywood game that he had never seen any runner do before.

But that was against Hollywood. Against highly ranked Granada Hills, however, Fields was the Little Train that couldn’t.

The Highlanders trounced Hamilton, 43-6, and Fields found no holes in the Granada Hills defensive line and went nowhere. Hounded by swarms of tacklers wherever he went, he rushed for just 53 yards on 14 carries (a 3.8-yard average).

His bad day wasn’t his fault. His offensive line was badly out-manned and didn’t provide much blocking. Granada Hills had several tacklers on Fields every time he carried the ball. Even a big train can’t carry the mail through an avalanche.

Ausbon said that Fields “was taking some shots” in the Granada Hills game, but “he’s still our running back and I’m going to give him the ball.”

He said Hamilton “may go to the pass more often” this year, but he added:

“We probably won’t face as tough a team as Granada unless we get into the playoffs.”

If the teams don’t get any tougher than the Highlanders, Fields seems certain of having better days; he has a good track record. Last year he was named to The Times All-Westside prep football team after a season in which he rushed for 837 yards, caught 16 passes for 200 yards and kicked seven field goals, including a 52-yarder.

It does not seem to be in Fields’ makeup to make excuses for bad days, but he has been motoring on one bad wheel since he injured his left knee about midway through last season.

He said that the knee has “a slight bone chip which rubs against the tissue” and that he wears a protective brace. His doctor has told him that he can play with the injury but that the knee will heal only with rest.

He doesn’t plan to rest during the football season. “I was afraid that the brace would restrict my lateral movement, but it hasn’t yet. I ice it down after a game and use a heating pad on it before I go to bed.”

The knee doesn’t hurt him when he runs, but it does hurt when he plants his left foot to kick and that sometimes cuts down his kicking yardage a bit, he added.

The knee may be a slight handicap, but his size may be an advantage for him as a runner, he said.

“It’s all in the heart, I guess. It’s strange how some big guys look tough but don’t have it. It’s all on the inside.”

He said that he also has an advantage in running behind his offensive line at Hamilton, which “has really done a good job. It’s tough for the defense because they don’t really know where the ball is until I come out from behind a bunch of big guys. Being small helps me out; it gives me an extra bit of hustle. If I were big, I’m afraid I’d be lazy.”

Laziness isn’t in his makeup either. Ausbon said Fields is a good student. He was All-Los Angeles City in football and as a baseball shortstop in his junior year, he picked up his kicking skills in youth soccer leagues and he played youth league ice hockey for two years before his uncle Jeff talked him into going out for B football in his sophomore year.

Fields said that he is an avid hockey fan and has been on either ice or roller skates all his life but that he is glad he gave up hockey for football. “I just decided that I’d rather be oriented with high school and be around the people I’m with all day in school.”

He said he prefers football to baseball “because I like non-stop action. In baseball, you have a lot more time to think; football is a reaction sport.

“In baseball, it’s easier for me to make the tough plays, to get to the hard shots, than it is to field a slow roller, where you have to think and then pick up the ball.”

More than a few colleges--including UCLA, Nebraska, Oklahoma, San Diego State and Iowa State--have picked up on Fields’ ability to play football, and he wants to play in college.

He thinks, however, that most of the bigger schools will want him more for his kicking ability than for his running and pass-catching skills.

He said that when he went out for football as a Hamilton sophomore: “I was just out to play the game, to enjoy it. I didn’t think it was going to be a big part of my life.” But he turned out to be wrong.

“This year I hope success comes with place-kicking and as a tailback,” he said. If his choice of a college scholarship came down to kicking for a football power or being a runner or wide receiver at a smaller school, he said he would choose the smaller school “because I would have more input than as a place-kicker.”

Ausbon said if Fields hopes to be more than a place-kicker in college that he will have to become a more dedicated weightlifter than he has been.

“He’ll have to get pumped up,” he said, “but wherever he goes, I hope they’ll give him consideration as a running back too.”

Asked if he thinks Fields is capable of playing running back at a major college, Ausbon said: “That’s a hard question.

“If he feels in his heart and mind that he is capable of being a top running back with a big school, if that’s what he wants to do, then I believe Jay has that ability.”