At 12, he was given the opportunity to be a ballcarrier. It was at running back where Ituka fell in love with the game. He liked how the position gave him a sense of control. If he played well, he knew he was giving his team a much better chance to win.

Five years later, Ituka has evolved into one of the best backs in the D.C. area. The Gaithersburg senior enters his final season with high expectations and a commitment to Wisconsin. A 5-foot-10, 225-pound bruiser with deceptive speed, Ituka loves to watch film of Cleveland Browns star Nick Chubb. In his best moments, Ituka resembles his NFL hero, battering weak linebackers and embarrassing ambitious safeties.

But the dream of becoming an NFL running back, once one of the most glamorous positions in sports, is tinged with uncertainty. The value of the position has come into question in recent years. The shelf life of a professional ballcarrier seems to be shrinking, diminished by questions of money, durability and role. It has gotten so bad that in July a group of premier backs gathered for a Zoom summit to discuss how to ensure the position remains respected and well-paid.

Like most everything that happens in the NFL — styles and strategies and trends — this conversation has trickled down to the high school game. Players such as Ituka are aware of this reappraisal, and it makes them think about their futures.

“Some teams are starting to look down on the running back position, and we don’t get as much praise as we should,” Ituka said. “Running backs do a lot. I think that gets overlooked.”

Still valued in high school

It can be hard for high school backs to understand this new development in part because it stands in contrast to the realities of Friday night, when a good running back is still unambiguously, undeniably important.

“Kids will always want that ball in their hands,” Damascus Coach Josh Klotz said. “And high school football to me has always been about running the ball and stopping the run.”

Last November, on the Friday after Thanksgiving, Klotz and his team traveled to River Hill for a Maryland state semifinal. River Hill, a one-loss power out of Howard County, was looking to turn its home-field advantage into a postseason upset. When Damascus received the opening kickoff, the Hawks’ defense tried to set the tone. Instead, it got run over.

On the first snap, Damascus handed the ball to senior running back Dillon Dunathan for a gain of 21 yards up the middle. Then it handed him the ball again. And again. And again. The Swarmin’ Hornets called eight straight running plays, all of them to Dunathan, as they marched 73 yards down the field for the opening touchdown. Having completely deflated their hosts, the Hornets went on to win, 42-7.

Klotz estimates that his offenses, at Damascus and in his previous stop at Richard Montgomery, usually run the ball about 75 percent of the time. But last fall, when the Hornets reached the playoffs thanks in large part to a dominant offensive line and a tireless campaign from Dunathan (now playing linebacker at the University at Albany), Klotz estimates the team ran the ball 95 percent of the time. After pummeling River Hill, the Hornets outlasted Oakdale to win the Maryland 3A championship.

“If I could just line up every play and pound the ball, I definitely would,” Klotz said. “Last year, we had the personnel where we pretty much could do that, so it was a lot of fun.”

In high school, where talent levels can vary drastically and organized execution is not always assured, running the ball remains the simplest and often most effective form of offense, no matter your scheme.

Perhaps the best offense in the D.C. area last fall belonged to Freedom (Woodbridge). The Eagles, who employ a highflying spread, went 15-0, averaged 63 points and won the Virginia Class 6 title. The Eagles loved to fling the ball around, yet sophomore running back Jeffrey Overton Jr. still finished with 2,599 rushing yards, a single-season record in Prince William County.

“I love a spread offense,” Overton said. “You never know where the ball is going to go. It keeps the other team guessing.”

Champe senior Gregory Spiller is another top returning back who finds himself in a pass-happy offense. Knights Coach Lee Carter likes to describe his team’s fast-paced, creative system as “basketball on turf.” Spiller, a 5-11, 200-pound playmaker, is featured mostly as a wide receiver, catching short screens and slants on the outside. Carter calls these routes “long handoffs”

In truth, Spiller is a running back. He started playing the position as a freshman at Champe. By his own admission, Spiller took time to adjust to the role. At first he ran too upright and held the ball “like Odell [Beckham Jr.], with just one hand. My coaches hated that.”

In time he developed good technique and better vision. In July, he committed to the University of Delaware, where he will play running back.

“If you watch my tape, it looks like a running back is out there running routes,” Spiller said. “It’s just what I look like. I think [college] coaches realized that I’m much more nimble at [running back]. So it didn’t come as a shock to me that my offers came at that position.”

Spiller’s versatility is part of his appeal, and it has become a point of emphasis for many hopeful backs. Last month at Meade High in Anne Arundel County, Mustangs running back Zahire Mike approached Coach Tanardo Sharps and asked what he could do to stand out. The senior, a recent transfer from Annapolis Area Christian, was concerned about his future at running back.

Sharps, a former running back who earned a spot in the county’s Hall of Fame after a standout career at Meade and Temple University, thought for a while about his answer.

“Don’t give them a reason to take you off the field,” he told Mike. “You have to show your skill set in every area of the position. You don’t want people to put a label on you that you can’t catch the football or pick up the blitz or do this or that. You have to be able to stay on the football field.”

Sharps knows even the high school game has changed since he suited up in the late 1990s. In those years, playing running back required a simpler, more downhill approach.

“When I came up, you were in the I formation,” he said. “You didn’t have to run the route tree. Everyone wants a three-down back, but that requires something special.”

Even as the game changes, he believes in the value of his old position. If anything, becoming a coach at his alma mater and running his own offense has reiterated that conviction. Everything in football begins with the running game, he said. In high school and beyond, that hasn’t changed.

“It’s still a position that people want to play in youth ball or at the high school level — there’s still nothing like crossing that goal line,” Sharps said. “But when you start talking about college and pro, things start to change a little bit. … Some people seem to think running backs are a dime a dozen, that you can put a strong body back there and get it done. I don’t get it.”