Lake Fong, Post-Gazette Duquesne's Fitzgerald Bobo can't quite haul down a pass as Rochester's Tony Whiteleather defends in the second quarter of the Dukes' Class A victory. Click photo for larger image. More WPIAL Coverage: WPIAL CLASS AAAA Championship: McKeesport runs past Woodland Hills, 19-7 WPIAL CLASS AAA Championship: Franklin Regional trips TJ, 31-14 WPIAL CLASS AA Championship: QB Dixon comes up big on defense WPIAL Championship Notebook: South Park's Fink chooses Heinz Field to get his kicks

Elijah Fields didn't want to experience the pain for a third time.

In his freshman and sophomore seasons, the Duquesne star and his fellow teammates were knocked out of the WPIAL Class A playoffs by perennial heavyweight Rochester.

Yesterday, the Dukes had the opportunity to not only avenge their two recent playoff losses to the Rams, but also bring a WPIAL title back to the City of Duquesne.

Mission accomplished.

Led by Fields' strong play on both sides of the ball, Duquesne defeated Rochester, 14-6, in the WPIAL Class A championship game at Heinz Field.

"We wanted to come back down here and not lose this time," said Fields, who was a member of Duquesne's 2002 team that lost to Rochester in the title game, 26-13. "We saw how it felt. We couldn't lose."

Fields, the focus of the Rochester defense, didn't post his usual video game like statistics but still finished with 51 yards rushing and four receptions for 42 yards and a touchdown. More important, Fields spearheaded a tough Duquesne defense.

The Dukes forced three Rochester turnovers -- all in the first half -- and held Rams standout running back Derek Moye to 88 yards on 19 carries.

All the talk about Fields usually centers on his offensive exploits, but it was his pass defending skills and his ability to come to the line of scrimmage and help contain the usually devastating Rochester running game that was a key factor.

"That's what we were counting on," Duquesne coach Pat Monroe said. "It was critical. It gave us another strong tackler, a hitter, to put some more hitting into this game."

Duquesne struck first with 1:59 to play in the first half. On third-and-goal at the Rochester 5, sophomore quarterback Darrale Dunn threw a fade pass to the corner of the end zone to Fields, who outjumped Moye, and managed to drag one of his feet down inbounds. Colin Kracinovski's extra-point kick gave the Dukes a 7-0 lead.

"The key was just getting position," Fields said. "I positioned myself to make the catch and then I just went up and got the ball."

The Dukes used a ball-control offense to take control in the second half. After Rochester turned the ball over on downs, Duquesne took over on its 26. Hitting the Rams with a steady dose of Layton Dunn and an occasional sprinkle of Fields, the Dukes ate up 6:55 on a 15-play, 74-yard drive. Layton Dunn scored the touchdown on a 5-yard run. Kracinovski's extra-point kick extended Duquesne's lead to 14-0.

Layton Dunn was the Dukes workhorse all day long, finishing with 29 carries for 121 yards.

"I know that if I have to throw him into a brick wall 100 times, he's going to ask for it for the 101st time," Monroe said.

Rochester came right back, though. On the opening play of the fourth quarter, Rochester quarterback Dan Camp hit Tony Whiteleather down the right sideline for a 61-yard touchdown hookup. The extra-point attempt was unsuccessful, and Rochester trailed 14-6.

That was as close as things would get as two subsequent Rochester drives came up empty, and Duquesne ate up much of the fourth quarter clock with a six-minute drive.

Duquesne's win denied Rochester (12-1) their fifth title in six seasons.