'09 NY RB Curtis Dukes (Penn State Verbal)

[LinebackerU]

IMO, this is a very underrated pick-up for PSU. Kid is a BEAST and he has some good speed!

Looks a lot like Curtis Enis.

[AustinScottistheone]

Spartans defense faces an old nemesis -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY

Leading the way for the Warriors is 6-foot-2, 235-pound senior running back Curtis Dukes, who is headed next to compete at Penn State.

"Any time you have a kid who is Big 10-caliber back — we may never see another guy like him — he is a special talent, but we have some pretty good talent, too. We'll do our best," Burnt Hills coach Matt Shell said. "Any time he touches the ball, he can go 80 yards. You're not going to catch him," Dukes has rushed for 1,081 yards on only 73 carries (14.8 yards per carry).

[jayer]

I wonder why only 73 carries?

[AustinScottistheone]

Because it is a wing T, and there are 4 or 5 kids that get carries. Also I believe his coach specifically stated in an article that is posted in this thread on the first page, that Curtis sometimes only plays half of the game and they aren't interested in embarrassing or running up the score on anyone - and that Curtis understands this.

The way I see it, at least he won't be beginning his collegiate career with 1,000 rushes in high school...he won't be all beat the hell up. I would be surprised if he had 300 + rushes throughout high school, Austin Scott had more carries than that in just his senior year alone. I hope he can make the transition relatively smooth and pick up the nuances of playing in a more conventional offense rather quickly, I think he'll be fine. I would love to see him get his weight at around 215-220, personally.

[PSU42Fan]

Originally Posted by jayer

I wonder why only 73 carries?

His team blows people out in the first half. Notice his ypc, though.

[AustinScottistheone]

Indian River senior running back Curtis Dukes, who is headed to Penn State, led the Warriors with 140 yards on 17 carries. The 6-foot-2, 225-pound senior never found the end zone, however.

MAXPREPS lists his season total rushes as 81, but 73 + 17 = 90 so I don't know. Anyway, senior season ends with 1,226 yards and 12 TDs as a rusher, as well as 8 receptions for 252 yards and 5 TDs as a receiver.

If someone in the "know" has more accurate career numbers, feel free to correct me...I'm just doing "approximately". From what I can tell, as a freshman, sophomore, junior & senior - Curtis Dukes as a rusher - nearly 3,800 yards (quite honestly, probably closer to 4k...on VERY limited carries) and 48 rushing TDs. Don't know career receiving yards/TDs. I'm sure there will be some nice write-ups out of NY when he gets ready to embark on his Penn State career...very much look forward to that career.

[MattC87]

Originally Posted by AustinScottistheone

Austin Scott had more carries than that in just his senior year alone.

Which is amazing, because that Parkland team was so good that the games were usually done rather quickly and he sat a lot in the second half of games.

Yeesh, I was a sophomore at Parkland then. I feel old now

[PennStateAlum]

Wow, take a look at the video on the first page for Dukes. In particular 1:49 and then at 3:18...the way he just throws those wanna-be tacklers off of him like rag dolls.