Records Are Fine, But State Title Was Hinson’s Biggest Prize

To Jamestown running back David Hinson, records are secondary.

Jamestown coach Wally Huckno pointed that out after the Red Raiders won the Class A State Championship.

“David, all year long said records are nice only if we win the state championship.”

Now the Red Raiders have the Class A State Championship, so now Hinson can enjoy his records. And he has plenty of them.

In the state title game Hinson scored three touchdowns. That gave him 35 touchdowns for the season to the state record.

Hinson had 175 yards rushing in in the title game. That gave him 2.260 for the season which would have been the state record, but a new state record was established earlier that day in the Class C title game. However, his 2.260 yards is still a record for Western New York. He also has the WNY record for carries this season – 290.

Those are all quite remarkable numbers, but they are more remarkable when you consider during eight regular season games, Hinson played for only two quarters in four of them because the Red Raiders were so far ahead. In a win over LaSalle, Hinson was out of the game with eight minutes left in the second quarter.

It all started in the opening game of the season when the 5-foot-9, 170 pound senior rushed for 194 yards and five touchdowns, all in the first half against Kenmore West. The regular season ended the same way at Lockport, where he gained 149 yards and scored three touchdowns in the first half when Jamestown led 42-0 en route to a 49-11 win.

“I feel sorry for David,” Huckno said after that game. “We’ve played eight games and he’s come out at the half in four of them. David probably could have scored 50 touchdowns and had 2,500 yards. He’s truly a team player. I know deep in his heart he has no regrets about the way he had been handled and we appreciate that.”
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Hinson, which is synonymous with humble, had no regrets. Earlier in the season after his five-touchdown game, he said, “I don’t want all the attention on me because I haven’t done all the work. They (his teammates) helped me, too. They’re doing just as much work as I am, so I want them to get the credit just like I’m getting the credit. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t score five touchdowns. I wouldn’t have any touchdowns.”

Most running backs dream of a 1,000 yard season. Hinson had 1,046 yards in only five games.

When it was all totaled up after Jamestown’s 13-0 season, Hinson had averaged 7.8 yards per carry and 174.5 per game. He scored 212 points for and average of 16.3 per game.
Hinson was also a defensive back and had 22 solo tackles, eight assisted tackles and two interceptions.

It’s obvious Huckno will have accolades for Hinson, but they also came from opposing coaches during the season.
“
He really follows his blockers so well,” Lockport’s Bob Casler said. “He’s a very smart runner.”

North Tonawanda coach Dave Anastasi said, “He’s got great blockers, but he reads blocks really well. He’s a great football player. He’s the best back I’ve seen in a long time.”

North Rockland coach Joe Casarella said, “He’s as good as I’ve seen all year. He can see the field really well. We have nothing close to him.”

And neither did anyone else. But in 1993 Hinson wasn’t compiling much of anything on offense because he was mainly a defensive player. In 13 games last season he had 37 carries for 171 yards, a yardage total he surpassed in six individual games this season.

“I was only a junior last year; I was a little inexperienced,” Hinson said. “I didn’t really know the varsity offense that well like I do now. They got me in there a little bit so I would be ready for this year.”

And ready he was.

After the Red Raiders claimed the Class A state title, Hinson said, “Records don’t mean anything to me. State champions means something.”

Now he has records, a state championship and also the honor as The Post-Journal’s Player of the Year.