SEQUIM — Sequim running back Travis Decker used to be one of the biggest players on the field.
He was an offensive guard for his Wolfpups football team when one of his teammate’s parents suggested that maybe that Decker kid should start running the ball.
It’s a good thing, because once everyone else started catching up to the 5-foot-7, 160-pounder, the position fit him perfectly: The small runner who plays awfully big.
“Travis has an attitude,” Sequim running backs coach Matt Ashley said. “He is not afraid of contact, and actually over the years I’ve had to sort of refine his style.
“He wants to run like a 240-pound back and forgets he’s only 160 pounds soaking wet.”
Few players embody the term “north-south back” quite like Decker.
Using a tremendous blend of speed and power, the senior hits holes with a purpose. He leaves the juking and faking to Sequim’s talented corps of wide receivers.
That style served him well in Sequim’s power run-based offense a year ago, as he went for 1,236 yards and 15 touchdowns on 208 carries.
After head coach Erik Wiker installed a more wide open shotgun spread attack during the offseason, Decker ran for even more yards (1,393) despite getting less carries (165).
In the process he became the Class 2A Nisqually/Olympic League MVP this fall, not to mention the school’s first back-to-back 1,000-yard rusher in recent memory. (Yes, that even includes Brian Savage.)
Of course, it helps that Decker has run behind one of the most talented and experienced offensive lines in school history.
The Wolves boast a trio of three-year starters up front (seniors Thomas Gallagher, Roman Turner and Jake Dethlefsen) that Decker has played with for years.
And Decker will be the first to credit the unit for his success.
“The way I see it, the stats I got aren’t necessarily my stats, it’s the line’s stats,” he said. “It all started with the line. They are one of the best lines in the state.”
Yet the fact that Decker is so tough and durable is a big factor in Decker’s success as well.
There aren’t too many backs who could play through a torn biceps tendon.
Decker did it for an entire half in last fall’s 21-14 state playoff loss to Centralia, running for 173 yards and two touchdowns in the process.
“He’s a really tough kid that has trained really hard,” Wiker said. “He’s made himself into a really good back. I think that durability is a big key, and that is because of a lot of hard work.
“Some of the other [runners] I’ve had weren’t workout-a-holics like him. He’s maximized all of his talents.”
Decker put in boatloads of training this summer, lifting in the weight room and doing agility drills as part of an offseason plan mapped out for him by Ashley and Wiker.
As a result, he came into this season as strong and fast as he’s ever been, hence his 8.44 yards per carry average.
He gashed Burlington-Edison’s stout defense for 151 yards and three touchdowns in last week’s 34-32 state playoff win, breaking off several long runs with his straight-ahead style.
“When he gets out and gets a little space he’s harder to bring down,” Ashley said.
“That’s why this year he’s breaking off a lot of big runs. It’s hard for guys to chase him down. You’ve got to take really good angles.”
He and the Wolves face another stiff test Saturday night when they host defending state champion Lynden in their first-ever state quarterfinal game at Silverdale Stadium.
It’s yet another big stage for the Wolves’ little back. And he’s more than ready to take it on.
“We’ve been working hard all season, and it’s worked,” Decker said. “There’s no point in changing something if it’s still working. That’s what we’ve got to continue to do is work as hard as we possibility can.
“We want to play in the [Tacoma] Dome.”
