RANDOLPH — Xander Hind knows the number by heart.
Last year, as he became one of the most productive running backs in the section, Hind openly stated his goal of besting a record set by his predecessor in the Randolph Cardinals’ backfield. Hind wants to break Chris Doubek’s 2013 Western New York standard for rushing yards in a single season.
He didn’t quite get there, but still led the best Randolph football season since 2014, piling up 1,837 yards as the Cardinals finished 10-1 with a loss in the Far West Regional.
A year later, entering his senior campaign, Hind has that same milestone in mind.
“That’s what I want: 2,536,” he said, flatly.
It’s not exactly a selfish goal: if Hind is getting yards at that pace, for that long, it probably will mean the Cardinals had another great season. It could take a state championship run.
“We don’t really keep track of that as we’re going through it,” Randolph coach Brent Brown said. “But he’s definitely going to carry the ball a lot and it depends who you’re playing and how good they are and how they can stop him.”
Brown was a first-year head coach in 2013 when Doubek carried the offensive load for the second of three straight state championship teams.
“That record was amazing because it took us all 13 games and you’ve got to be tough to make it that long,” he said. “Doubek, honestly, that year we were really good, he only played half of half the games. So we’ll see how it goes. Xander definitely could do that. He’s a tremendous runner and he’s probably 15 pounds heavier than last year.”
Hind said he devoted much of the offseason to the gym, including agility drills. Brown sees the added muscle as a benefit for helping Hind get through what the Cardinals hope to be a long season.
“Because he has bulked up, I think that will help him a lot,” Brown said. “He’ll be delivering some blows instead of just taking it and taking it.”
Randolph graduated just four seniors from last year’s squad and returned three Big 30 All-Stars, including tight end/middle linebacker Jaiden Huntington, two-way lineman Ryan Carpenter and Hind, the running back/defensive back who won the 2021 Big 30 Player of the Year award.
The Cardinals took a big step forward after a disappointing spring 2021 season ended at 2-4.
“It’s just kind of what we took to practice,” Hind said of the improvement from last spring to the fall. “We took practice way more serious. We worked. We were watching hours and hours of film on our own.”
But a 28-22 loss to Oakfield-Alabama/Elba in the Class D Far West Regional left a sour taste for the huge class of seniors looking to take the Cardinals even further this year.
“I’m not satisfied with that season,” Hind said. “It was definitely a tough loss. I don’t think the players prepared, I don’t think we watched enough film, I don’t think we were prepared going into that game. So we definitely are hungry this season.”
But now, Hind sees that setback as a motivator for his teammates.
“Our loss, that loss was good for us,” he said. “It made us hungry, made us want to work a lot harder this year so we don’t fall short again.”
If a Section 6 Class D team made it all the way to Syracuse, it would play a maximum of 14 weeks, including an eight-game regular season and up to six playoff games.
Reaching the two-and-a-half century mark would likely require dominance on a weekly basis.
“Every week,” Hind said, “you’ve got to average like 200 yards a game. You’ve just got to stay healthy, that’ll be the hardest part. With all the carries you’ve got to stay healthy through the season. It’ll be a long season if we make it all the way.”
