Big Man On Campus

VAN NUYS —  A running back isn’t supposed to tower over his offensive linemen, but Birmingham High’s Emmanuel Evans isn’t a typical tailback.

High school running backs tend to be built low to the ground and equipped with elusive moves, but Evans, the second-tallest player on his team, is a 6-foot-3, 225-pound bruiser who can either run around defensive players or run them over.

A starter since his first game as a sophomore, Evans has gained 4,426 yards in his career, becoming the Northwest Valley Conference’s most prolific running back since Jerry Brown of Taft.

And Evans has become one of the most versatile players in the conference.

Playing outside linebacker full-time for the first time, Evans is third on the team with 48 tackles and second with 6 1/2 sacks. He punts for a 40-yard average and can throw a football 60 yards.

But Evans’ biggest impact comes when he carries the ball. The senior is the leading City Section rusher from the region with 1,847 yards and 22 touchdowns.

Birmingham lost in the first round of the City Section 3-A Division playoffs the past two years, but with Evans on the field for virtually every play, the Braves have moved up.

Seventh-seeded Birmingham (8-2) will host Banning in a 4-A first-round game tonight at 7.

Nobody expected this when Evans transferred from Faith Baptist to Birmingham’s journalism magnet as a sophomore in 1995.

He benefited from opportunity as much as anything.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” Evans said. “Basketball was my sport.”

Evans averaged more than 15 points a game as a freshman on the Faith Baptist basketball varsity but he was a football neophyte. His experience consisted of one season on the Contenders’ junior varsity in an eight-man program.

It wasn’t because he didn’t want to play football. Evans was too big for Pop Warner.

First-year Birmingham Coach Dave Lertzman, however, was desperate for athletes.

Birmingham advanced to the 3-A final in 1994 but only four players returned from that team. Lertzman quickly realized his three best prospects-- sophomores Evans, Bobby Davis and Robert Bowens-- belonged in the backfield, no matter what their size.

After running a double-wing offense most of the season, the Braves switched to an I-formation to showcase Evans.

“He’s a classic I-formation tailback like they used to have at USC,” Lertzman said. “A guy like Marcus Allen who used his power to run over people. Most coaches would look at his size and say he’s a tight end or a linebacker but I had to get him the ball.”

Despite being slowed by a back injury, Evans gained 971 yards with seven touchdowns as a sophomore while also serving as the punter. His responsibilities have increased each season.

Evans had about 10 plays as a linebacker his junior season after not playing defense as a sophomore. And he because the region’s best punter, improving his average per kick from 31 to 43 yards, making The Times’ All-Valley team as a punter.

He also handled kickoff duties but with the emergence of sophomore John Wall, Evans is able to take a break this season after Birmingham scores.

“I still think I can kick farther than him but I need the rest,” Evans said.

And he’s become a much better runner. His sophomore year, he would just grab the ball and despite his size, be brought down by one defender.

Now Evans knows how to follow his blocking and is much more difficult to tackle.

“I don’t even try anymore in practice,” teammate Howard Jones said. “If he gets out in the open field and a defensive back tries to tackle, he’ll just get run over.”

Evans still needs to improve in some areas. He has a tendency to fumble, but the bobbles have become less of a problem since he fumbled three times in a victory over Grant the second week of the season.

Minor injuries that kept him out of portions of games as a sophomore are now ignored.

Evans has nursed a strained groin for a month, but ran for 337 yards and scored four touchdowns in a 35-24 victory over Kennedy last week that clinched second place and a first-round home game.

It helps that Evans concentrated on football rather than basketball in the summer for the first time, improving his strength through weightlifting.

Evans still has an impact on the court, averaging 13.4 points and 7.8 rebounds for the Braves last year, but there’s not much college future for a 6-3 power forward.

He still must achieve a qualifying mark on the Scholastic Assessment Test and improve his core grade-point average, but he has received interest from UCLA, Washington, Nebraska and other Division I schools.

“Basketball is probably still my favorite sport, but I’ve found out I’m better in football,” Evans said. “It’s where my future will be. I’ll play running back, fullback, tight end, whatever it takes.”