Xander Hind grew up idolizing Randolph running backs like Chris Doubek.
Now the next generation of young future Cardinals will try to be the next Xander Hind.
After winning the 2021 Big 30 Player of the Year, the Gary Sage Memorial Award, as a junior breakout star, Hind had an even stronger senior year to lead Randolph to back-to-back Section 6 Class D championships. Hind, again, was the runaway choice for the Big 30 Football All-Star Committee when choosing its 2022 Player of the Year. Hind won the vote over two fellow nominees, Port Allegany quarterback Drew Evens and Salamanca running back Jesse Stahlman.
Since he became Randolph’s feature back, Hind aimed to take down Doubek’s 2013 record for single-season rushing yards, the best not only in program history but in Western New York. That year, Doubek ran for 2,536 yards in 13 games — all victories — en route to a NYSPHSAA Class D championship.
Hind came close last fall, but finished with 1,837 yards in 10 games after a loss in the Far West Regional. This year, he upped his production and kept the season alive one week longer and took down the record.
Hind’s final performance in a Cardinal red uniform put him over the top Friday night, running for 249 yards in a 41-34 loss to Tioga in the state semifinal. He entered the game needing 208 yards to tie the record and did more than enough, finishing with 2,577.
“Xanny always wanted to be the guy,” Cardinals coach Brent Brown said after the semifinal loss. “Even when he was younger, he always wanted to be the guy, he always had his sights set on Doubek’s record and this year he really took a step forward. He gained some weight, got in the weight room and he was tough. We’ve had a ton of great backs through the years and he’s got to be right up there with the best because he could do it all. He had the speed, he was tough, he was strong as an ox and put his head down.”
That toughness showed on Friday against Tioga.
“In the second quarter, he dislocated his right thumb and he kept grinding,” Brown said. “The trainers taped him up, got it back in and he kept playing the whole game. So he was a leader by example for sure, he was definitely a leader and I think those young kids certainly look up to him and that will be who they’ll try to be in the future. And he’s a great kid. You cannot not love this guy. He’s an awesome kid.”
He also made the most of his limited receiving opportunities this season, taking five catches for 191 yards (38.2 yards per catch) and two touchdowns. Hind played both ways, as many small-school stars do, recording 66 tackles (27 solo), two interceptions and one sack as primarily a free safety.
Never shy to take on a big workload, Hind would often tell Brown “just keep feeding me,” or “I can do this all day.”
Hind finished the season with 305 carries, none more than in the Far West Regional on Monday, when he took 48 of them for 281 yards in a 42-26 win over Oakfield-Alabama/Elba, avenging a regional loss to that same Aggies team a year ago. Just four days later, the day after Thanksgiving, Hind took 40 more attempts in a high-scoring affair against Tioga.
After the Monday night regional, Hind gave credit to the Cardinals’ five linemen — all returning starters from 2021 — and his fullback.
“They’re the reason I’ve been able to have the season I’ve had,” Hind said. “They’re the ones who open up the holes for me. Payton (Slade), my fullback, he hits the first guy he sees, man. The line was outstanding, especially (Monday), this was really their breakout game. They did a phenomenal job.”
Hind is the fourth player from Randolph to earn Big 30 POY honors, joining Ike Morrison (1997), Doubek (‘13) and Bryce Morrison (‘14). He’s the first to repeat as Player of the Year (in a year where only one such honor was given) since Port Allegany quarterback Matt Bodamer in 2011 and ‘12.