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X-Man Ashley is game breaker
Sophomore helped Bombers win first Division I state championship
BY TOM GROESCHEN | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Terri Ashley vividly recalls the first time that little Darius Ashley, then 5, carried the football in an actual game. The future St. Xavier football star was tiny, even for 5 years old.
Terri remembers being terrified and, eyes closed, she prayed to God that her baby wouldn't be hurt.
"I had told the coaches to leave him on the bench because he was so small," Terri said. "Next thing I know, my brother tells me, 'They said Darius is getting ready to run the ball.' I said, no!"
<script language="JavaScript"> OAS_AD('ArticleFlex_1')</script>When Terri opened her eyes, she saw a wave of pint-sized defenders closing in on Darius. This was a Sycamore Athletic Club game, where the boys' ages range from 5 to 7. And there was little Darius, bouncing off tacklers and spinning away to daylight.
"It looked like everybody on the other team converged on Darius," Terri said. "All of a sudden, you just saw this little person burst out and run away. I said, 'Oh my, there goes Darius! My baby got a touchdown ...' maybe 70 yards."
Darius, then and now a Deer Park resident, went on to become a towering figure on the little league football scene. He led his teams to three Super Bowl titles - the peak for area youth teams. He also was quite a linebacker.
"He did things as a child that I still, to this day, try to teach to young adults," said Rob Miller, Darius' youth league coach. "Running the football, he knew to transfer the ball to his outside hand. Nobody ever told him that. Defensively, he was a linebacker, and he would just coil like a spring and hit people. When he tackled you, you stayed tackled.
"I'd love to say it was good coaching, but he just knew what to do right from his first day as a 5-year-old. He was a natural."
NOT A BIG BAT
Today, Ashley is a standout running back for St. Xavier. Last fall as a sophomore, he ran for 1,633 yards and scored 28 touchdowns in helping the Bombers to a 15-0 record and the program's first Division I state championship.
Bombers coach Steve Specht has virtually retired the word "special" when speaking of Ashley.
"We've got a sophomore who's going to be pretty special," Specht said, just before the 2005 season. "His name is Darius Ashley."
Darius is still not very big at 5-foot-9, although he has added 20 pounds since last summer and now weighs 180.
"I have a daughter who's 6 feet," Terri Ashley said. "Darius has said to me, 'Mama, why didn't I get the height?' I say, well, take it up with God. ... My feeling has always been, from another viewpoint, I'm glad he's small. Because if he were 6 feet, everybody would be able to find him out there, and they'd kill my baby!"
Terri calls Darius her baby because he is her youngest of three children. Erin is 26 and Darwin, a former Summit Country Day football player, is 21.
Darius' newfound fame didn't catch him off guard, since he was a star from his first youth game. Yet, all agree he has kept his head.
"He does everything right, and he's very humble about it," said Howard Patton, a St. Xavier senior offensive lineman and also a returning starter. "Even being an underclassman, he shows extraordinary leadership and everyone likes him."
Darius himself doesn't have much to say, at least to reporters. He's not embarrassed by the attention but, like all great running backs, prefers to spread the credit.
"I'm really not doing as much work as the offensive linemen, so they should be the ones getting all the attention," Ashley said. "Whenever something good happens, I make sure I mention them."
THE 'BIG' DEBATE
There already is debate about whether Ashley will have the size to play Division I-A major college football. There have been other height-challenged running backs who were pretty good - 5-foot-8 Barry Sanders comes to mind - but most great NFL backs stand 5-10 or above. You could look it up.
"He's a very good player, but for college the size element could be huge," said Duane Long, a Midwest recruiting evaluator for Scout.com and Ohio High magazine. "He's got a big runner's mentality in a small runner's body."
Meaning, Ashley tends more to run over people instead of bee lining to the sidelines. His trademark is bouncing off tacklers, spinning, bouncing, spinning more. He rarely goes down on the first hit.
Said Long, "Is he going to be able to grow in to the size of a back that can hit a defensive tackle and run over him, at the college level? You just don't see small backs run over people at that level. If you get him in an offense where they spread it out and let him run in the open field, he could find a place somewhere."
Specht said it's a little early in the recruiting process. Very early, actually, as NCAA football coaches aren't permitted to contact a prospect until after the prospect's junior year. But that hasn't stopped rumors that schools as far away as Southern Cal have requested tape of Ashley.
"Everyone asks about him, but they can't make offers yet," Specht said.
Sideline observers look at Ashley's height and see him more at a Mid-American Conference college someday. All this is lost on Ashley.
"Really, I'm just focused on beating Wayne right now," Ashley said, speaking of St. Xavier's season opener Aug. 26. "I'd like to play college football at a big school, but I haven't thought beyond that."
Ashley profile
Class: Junior
Height: 5-9
Weight: 180
2005 stats: Rushed for 1,633 yards and 28 TDs to help lead St. X to 15-0 record and school's first Division I state football championship.
2005 honors: Second team all-state ... First team All-Southwest District ... First team Enquirer all-area ... First team Greater Catholic League South
