AUBURN - It's not easy to hit a moving target - just ask any of the 11 varsity football teams that have tried to do so against Quendel Ellison this season.

Auburn's standout running back has mustered nearly 2,000 yards on the ground this season despite being the focal point of opposing defenses week in and week out.

And as the stakes get higher, Ellison just gets better.

After scoring 12 touchdowns in seven regular season games, the senior has 11 through four postseason matchups. His 146 yards per game against Henninger, Fayetteville-Manlius, Rome Free Academy and Union-Endicott are just 44 fewer yards per game through the first seven.

“There's a real emotional and mental side to that, knowing that you've got a bull's-eye on your chest and to be able to handle that is a real credit to Quendel,” Auburn coach Dave Moskov said. “He's still going out and performing well, and he understands that as our offense has developed and gotten better over the last four weeks, we've needed to develop all of the weapons there. As long as he goes out and plays his A-game, it's huge. He can keep that bull's-eye on his chest and it really makes our whole team that much better.”

The yards, the touchdowns and even the increasing interest from college recruiters don't seem to matter much to Ellison. Moskov estimates that he gets “a couple of calls a day” from college recruiters asking about the 5-10, 195-pound back, but predictably, Ellison's concentration lies elsewhere for the time being.

“My focus is on the state championship right now; I'll decide on a college after the season is over,” Ellison said. “(All of the interest from colleges) makes me feel good and it helps me go out and try to do my best, but right now I'm just really excited that things are going well for us now.”

The soft-spoken senior said there are four things that give him the most motivation to play well. He thinks about his late grandmother, Alberta, who passed away before the season started. And right before each postseason game, Ellison has gotten pumped up thinking about “my teammates, the community of Auburn and trying to win the state championship.” Despite the seemingly immense amount of pressure on his shoulders, Ellison has not only thrived on it, he welcomes it.

“I don't feed into any of (the pressure), it's whatever I can do for this team,” Ellison said. “There are a lot of people in the box, and focusing on me just helps Darnell (Murphy), (Brandon) Tape and (Matt) Hoey and the rest of those guys. It just helps everyone else out and that's fine with me.”

Ellison is all about helping out his teammates, and not just on the field.

“The other day, he takes home the pinnies that (some players) wear,” Moskov said. “The kids usually come in and have to put the wet jerseys on for practice but when they show up the next day, even though he's not on that team, Quendel took those home and washed them for the kids. It's little things like that, that say this kid is connected not only with the offense, but he's out there for all the kids on the team. He understands and knows that it's about all of their success. It's all about his teammates and it's not just lip service with him - when he does stuff like that, he's looking out for everybody.”

Throughout his entire high school career, the unselfish target has always been the first player opposing teams try to contain and undoubtedly stopping No. 34 will be Marshall's first order of business Saturday as the Maroons prepare to play in the Class AA state semifinal game.

If the higher stakes cause Ellison to have yet another outstanding game against the Jurists, it wouldn't come as that big of a surprise.

“He's got momentum as a person, just like everyone else on the team,” Moskov said. “They all just keep believing and believing over the weeks and you can see it more that they believe they can do this. They can play with anybody and you can just see it in Quendel, his confidence and the way he is playing. Not only is he playing extremely well, he's playing extremely well against the best of the best.”