Ron Wurzer / The Seattle Times: Ty Eriks rushed for more than 1,500 yards despite the fact he rarely played in the second half of O'Dea's blowout wins.; One last run

The O'Dea Locomotive is ready to roll.

Ty Eriks is an Irish running back with big-time written all over his 6-foot-2, 220-pound frame as he enters his final high-school season.

Need four tough yards? Eriks will get them. Need to go the distance? Give the ball to Eriks.

O'Dea's nuclear weapon has attracted national attention. Recruiting letters cover the walls and part of the ceiling in his West Seattle bedroom. His final choices are Washington, Stanford, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Michigan, Miami, UCLA, USC, Florida State and Ohio State.

His father, Bob, a Lake City periodontist, has a purple-and-gold opinion of where his son should go.

"The door has opened to walk through the pearly gates," said Dr. Eriks, adding that he considers the Huskies with his son to be 2002 national-championship material.

Washington meets the father's criteria as a school with good academics and a football program capable of launching a pro career. Oh, it's his alma mater, too.

Ty scored 22 touchdowns and rushed for more than 1,500 yards last year, averaging nearly 10 yards a carry. His stats could have been more impressive if he had been left in Metro League mismatches beyond halftime.

O'Dea Coach Monte Kohler routinely calls off the dogs and doesn't run up the score in a league where some teams would struggle against suburban junior-varsity squads.

The Tom Lemmings Prep Football Report, a national publication, declares that Eriks is "one of the nation's premier running-back prospects." His credentials include a 4.39 40-yard dash time, a 36-inch vertical jump and a bench press of 280 pounds. He is the total package of speed and power and can play either fullback or tailback in college.

In spring, Eriks is a track athlete and has run a 10.8-second 100-meter dash and competed in two state meets.

Kohler calls Eriks "a great kid, a tough football player."

"He plays hard, practices hard and is a good leader," Kohler said.

Eriks has a 3.9 grade point at the city all-boys Catholic school. The lone B grade was in a freshman PE class and he calls the grade, given by a basketball coach, "pretty goofy."

Eriks has achieved the classroom success with hard work because he has suffered from Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).

"Now it's a lot better," he said, saying ADD was a major problem in grade school. "I've learned how to deal with it, how to control it. Now I can sit through a class period and not force myself to focus and pay attention."

After his parents separated when he was younger, Eriks lived with his mother and attended middle school at the Charles Wright Academy in Tacoma. He moved in with his father to start high school. Dr. Eriks had done the research on Seattle schools and steered his son to O'Dea, even though he said the school's exterior reminded him and his son of a prison when they visited.

Dr. Eriks did not play football during his days at Renton High School - his parents would not allow it - and he takes immense pleasure from his son's success in football.

Likewise, his son revels in the sport.

"I enjoy every aspect - the competition, the emotions and the hitting," Ty Eriks said.

However, Ty's freshman year at O'Dea was rigorous and in late spring he told his father he was thinking of transferring to another school. One week later, he announced over breakfast that he had changed his mind.

"The thought of playing against them instead of with them is more than I can take," he said.

While college recruiters pursue him, Eriks' current football focus is O'Dea's season. The Irish have won six straight Metro titles and own a 54-game winning streak in regular-season games but haven't advanced past the state quarterfinals in his two years on varsity.

"We're overdue to go farther," he said.

If they do, Eriks will have a lot to do with it.