Skip to content
College Sports
Link copied to clipboard

Offer from Temple spurs Overbrook's DeShields

Marques DeShields broke more than tackles this past football season. He also shattered the perception of the Overbrook High School football program.

Overbrook running back Marques DeShields stiff-arms Audubon's Joseph Zuccarelli.
Overbrook running back Marques DeShields stiff-arms Audubon's Joseph Zuccarelli.Read moreAVI STEINHARDT / For The Inquirer

Marques DeShields broke more than tackles this past football season.

He also shattered the perception of the Overbrook High School football program.

"When I was in eighth grade, people were telling me I had to go to another school," DeShields said. "When I was a freshman, they were telling me I had to transfer.

"I want to prove that a player could go to this school and play in this program and still get recruited at a high level. It feels good to prove those people wrong."

DeShields, a 5-foot-10, 185-pound junior running back who led South Jersey in touchdowns in 2015, picked up an offer from Temple a couple of weeks ago.

The offer raised DeShields' profile and worked wonders for the Rams' program as well.

"It's created a buzz around Marques and a buzz around our program," Overbrook coach Frank Wilczynski said. "It's been a very long time since we had an underclassman at Overbrook get an offer like that."

Wilczynski believes the Temple offer will open the door to several offers for DeShields, the nephew of former Temple star and NFL cornerback Kevin Ross.

Monmouth and Old Dominion have expressed the most interest, Wilczyski said, and Rutgers is expected to take a long look as DeShields as well, given the Scarlet Knights' determination to strengthen their recruitment of homegrown players.

DeShields, who also plays basketball at Overbrook, burst into the spotlight this past season on the football field.

He ran for 1,100 yards, averaged 8.5-yards per carry and also showed himself to be a dangerous receiver with 165 yards and two touchdowns through the air in a playoff loss to eventual South Jersey Group 2 finalists.

DeShields led South Jersey with 25 touchdowns as Overbrook went 5-5 and qualified for postseason play for the first time in 12 seasons.

"He's such a powerful kid," Wilczynski said. "Pound for pound, he's the strongest kid on our squad. He's got such great lower-body strength.

"I remember we played Haddon Heights, and he breaks a tackle at the line of scrimmage, gets to the second level and must have dragged a kid for 12 or 13 yards."

Wilczynski said DeShields excels in tight quarters.

"He's not a 4.3 [seconds] or 4.4 kid," Wilczynski said, referring to DeShields' time in the 40-yard dash. "But he has great vision and footwork, and he's great at making people miss in a small space."

DeShields said the Temple offer has inspired him to work even harder on his game as well as his schoolwork.

"When I first got the offer I told my mom and dad, and the first thing they told me was that this means I have to do even better in school," DeShields said. "I know this is a great opportunity. I can't let it slip. I have to get on my job."

panastasia@phillynews.com

@PhilAnastasia

www.philly.com/

jerseysidesports