Wednesday, August 27, 2003

By Paul Zeise, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Gateway running back Justin King is one of the fastest athletes in Western Pennsylvania.

He runs 40 yards in less than 4.3 seconds and 100 in less than 11.

But Gateway Coach Terry Smith only is asking King to run 4 or 5 yards at a time this season and he's hoping his player is up to the task.

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"Justin has great speed and we all know that," said Smith. "But he'll show this year that he is a complete running back as well. We've worked hard with him in the weight room. He has a 320-bench, a 450-squat and we expect him to be our every-down back. We want to get him the ball 20 to 25 times a game.

"People think he's all speed, but he's a tough kid and he'll mix it up."

King, a 6-foot, 172-pound junior, said he believes the weight training will help him but that his strength remains the fact that on most nights he'll be the fastest guy on the field. That's why he also spent a lot of time this off-season working on his speed and his quickness.

King's transformation from a change-of-pace guy into an every-down back will be a big one. Last season, he rushed only 107 times but gained 691 yards and scored seven touchdowns. That means he carried the ball less than 10 times per game, which is less than half of what he'll be expected to do this season.

"I'm ready to do that," King said. "I'm sort of excited about the fact that I'll get so many more chances to touch the ball each game and I know I've done the work in the off-season to handle the load. But we have so many weapons, there isn't as much pressure on me as it sounds."

Gateway indeed is loaded, especially at the skill positions, and that is a major reason the Gators are ranked No. 3 in WPIAL Class AAAA. The Gators are led by quarterback Mortty Ivy, who is a West Virginia recruit, and have a number of speedy receivers such as Central Catholic transfer Jai Wilson.

But King is clearly the team's best player. He already has scholarship offers from Pitt, Penn State, Maryland, Boston College and West Virginia, and he is being recruited by most other major schools in the Big Ten, Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big East.

Smith, who is King's stepfather, said that King didn't realize his enormous potential until a trip to the University of Michigan's camp this summer with many of the top players from across the country.

"He's just now coming into his own, he's maturing physically and he is starting to realize he can play at a very high level," said Smith. "At that Michigan camp, he was playing defensive back with a group of the top 10 defensive backs in the country and he held his own. That showed him how good he can be."

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