Bishop Amat’s Fields Stays on the Move : High school football: Running back has shown the ability to beat defenses with speed or strength. Already, he has gained 944 yards in 128 carries.

Pasadena Muir High has a defensive backfield filled with sprinters, but no one catches Scott Fields from behind.

At 6 feet 3 and 195 pounds, Fields ran over, around and past Muir defenders last weekend, gaining 242 yards in 22 carries to lead La Puente Bishop Amat to a 27-22 victory. Fields scored touchdowns on runs of 12, 54 and 88 yards.

“The biggest thing about him is that he is so beautiful to watch running,” Muir Coach Mike Morris said of Fields. “He has that great stride when he is running the ball, along with incredible speed. . . . He has the total package.”

In leading Amat to a 5-0 record this season, Fields has rushed for 944 yards in 128 carries and scored 11 touchdowns. Tonight, he and his teammates will face Loyola (4-1) in a showdown between Angelus League rivals. Kickoff is 7:30 at Glendale High.

Fields is the latest in a line of great backs from Bishop Amat. Starting in the early 1980s with Pernell Taylor, who went on to play at Notre Dame, the Lancers have had Randy Tanner (USC), Eric Bieniemy (Colorado) and Mazio Royster (USC).

Fields, though, has been most influenced by his brothers. Arnold played for the Lancers with Taylor, then went on to star at Kansas and later played briefly for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Arby set several school rushing records at La Puente Bassett High.

“Something I always wanted to do was be like my brothers,” said Fields, who has seven older brothers, all of whom were running backs. “I never looked up to other athletes because they were my heroes.”

Despite the family history, Fields first gained attention on defense. As a youngster, he was a standout defensive end in Pop Warner ball and as a freshman at Amat.

He also played some offense, but his debut as a tailback was nothing special. He had problems adjusting to running the ball, although he was a part-time starter with Miregi Huma, who is now a key linebacker for the Lancers.

As a sophomore, Fields was expected to play a lot for the Lancers on defense but had academic problems and was ineligible for part of the season. He finally played a little at defensive end as Bishop Amat won the Angelus League title.

He emerged as a runner last season, rolling up 1,416 yards rushing and 15 touchdowns while averaging eight yards a carry. His running helped Bishop Amat to its fifth Angelus League title in the last six years.

“Scott began to really assert himself last season,” Bishop Amat Coach Mark Parades said. “When he first came here, he was about 6-2 and only 160 pounds. Now, he is a real big kid with a lot of speed.

“What makes him so good is that he is a leader who always wants the ball. He is the type of kid who you want on your team.”

Fields says that last season was a learning experience for him and that his success surprised him. Playing in a backfield with Jason Patterson, the Southern Section Division I player of the year, Fields’ expectations were not high.

But this season, Fields is regarded as Bishop Amat’s key player, which he says he may have taken too seriously at first. The Lancers struggled to early season victories over Riverside Rubidoux, La Verne Damien and Long Beach Poly.

“I was frustrated at first because I was asking much more from myself,” Fields said. “Things were not coming easy for me because I had placed too much pressure on myself.

“Each game, the type of runner I am can change depending on the defense. I try to mix it up where sometimes I can be a punishing runner and at other times I am elusive. The object of being a running back is to not get tackled and I try to do whatever it takes.”

He certainly didn’t hurt his reputation against Muir.

“Muir has great team speed, but (Fields) just outran their guys to the end zone twice,” Parades said. “When he sees the goal line and he has a shot at it, he’s gone.”

Fields, though, says he has a long way to go before he can compare himself to other great runners from Bishop Amat.

“I try my best but all of them have done so well,” he said. “I don’t think that I can put myself anywhere near them yet. Hopefully, when I’m all done, I could be compared to them.”