Fielding’s Ankle Strong Enough to Carry Mission Viejo : Football: Tailback, who had three screws inserted in his leg after injury during baseball season, prepares for No. 2 Irvine.

Erick Fielding’s legs churned, blockers blocked, holes opened, and the crowd roared for more. It was just like Fielding’s freshman season, only better. Much better.

The more they gave the ball to Fielding, a senior tailback at Mission Viejo, the more nostalgic he became. He carried the ball 14 times last week, gaining 145 yards and scoring on runs of 17 and 39 yards as Mission Viejo routed West Torrance, 42-7.

He waited a long time to run that well in a varsity game, and he’s not ready to throttle back anytime soon. Good thing, too. Mission Viejo will need every yard it can get from Fielding when it plays No. 2-ranked Irvine at 7:30 tonight at Irvine.

“Oh, my golly,” Irvine Coach Terry Henigan said of Fielding. “The thing that impressed us is that he’s not only quick, but he’s a punishing runner. (He) presents a real challenge.”

On first sight, Fielding doesn’t look like he’d be much trouble. But you have to catch that less-than-imposing 5-foot-9, 170-pound frame before you can inflict any damage. And that is the trick, isn’t it?

“I think I’m still a little small--almost average,” Fielding said. “If I get the blocks, that’s all I need. The first five to 10 yards is the line, then the rest is up to the running back.”

Once he’s through the smallest of gaps, his speed tends to keep him far ahead of the pack.

Fielding is tough to catch. He ran 10.8 seconds for 100 yards and 22.6 for 220 on the Diablo track and field team last season, which makes him Orange County’s fastest sprinter with three screws in his left ankle.

You see, his greatest asset was once his biggest hindrance. Fielding underwent surgery after blowing out his ankle in a baseball game in his sophomore season. Sliding into second to break up a double play, Fielding caught his spikes on the bag.

About the only good that came from the ensuing layoff was that Fielding began to lift weights regularly and started to add bulk to his upper body. A 135-pounder as a freshman, he was up to 165 pounds as a junior.

However, Fielding’s speed decreased noticeably.

With only days of light running as preparation, Fielding started fall practice with a number of questions facing him. The most pressing: Was his ankle strong enough?

Certainly, the Mission Viejo coaching staff had its doubts, and with others available to carry the load, “they didn’t rely on me as much,” Fielding said. “I was worried about how my ankle was going to hold up.”

The coaches wanted him in the lineup, though, and Fielding started at fullback, blocking for tailback Deron Drake. By season’s end, Fielding got the ball often enough to gain about 500 yards; Drake gained 660.

If only Fielding’s ankle--and his confidence--had been at full strength. It was a long tumble from his freshman season.

Back then there were signs that he would develop into a first-rate tailback. After all, he gained almost 900 yards while playing on the Diablos’ undefeated freshman team.

“After that freshman year, yeah, we all thought we’d do as well as seniors,” Fielding said.

He played little as a sophomore, recovered well from his ankle injury as a junior and now he hopes the best is yet to come.

“I played fullback last year,” he said. “I didn’t really like it, but I did it. I figured I’d have my chances this year.”

Drake graduated, the coaching staff moved Fielding back to tailback, inserted Adrian Amposta and added Brad Weekes into the mix as quarterback.

So far the results have been winning.

“I was kind of nervous before the game (last week),” Fielding said. “Once I got that first hit out of the way, I relaxed. They’re counting on me, but we’ve also got Amposta and Weekes is coming along. Sure, a lot is on my shoulders, but we’ve got other people.”