POST — The Post football team may not have a 3,000-yard rusher every season, but Randon Curtis has shown this year the Bold Gold will keep running.
Ian Vergara, the Antelopes' star running back and 2024 Avalanche-Journal small-school player of the year, left a legacy not soon to be forgotten. He graduated with every rushing record in Post history and led the team to a 13-1 campaign his senior season.
There's no way the Antelopes could replicate that production, let alone a year later, right?
Not quite, but the team certainly isn't hurting in the backfield. Curtis finished the regular season as the Lubbock area's second-leading rusher with 1,337 yards and 16 touchdowns.
It was the type of campaign that makes one wonder, did he realize the magnitude of the shoes he was filling?
"He does. He knows," Post coach John Wright said. "He kind of set his mind to it that he was gonna be the guy."
Perhaps the better question is, did Curtis feel the pressure?
"Not at all," he said.
The 5-foot-10, 160-pound back nicknamed "Doodie," is utilized differently than the workhorse Vergara.
Despite having a few inches on Vergara, Curtis doesn't shoulder the same load. That is, unless it's necessary. Wright felt it was to secure a 38-0 win in the district finale Friday against Abernathy.
Curtis ran 34 times for 254 yards and three TDs to help Post win a piece of the District 2-2A Division I title.
"Our offense has got a little different dynamic this year than it had last year with Ian," Wright said. "We fed the ball to Ian 30 times a game last year. We keep Doodie right around right around 15-17 plays a game. Now, (Friday) we probably had more because we were kind of struggling in our play-action and our passing games. But I told the guys, this is the one that we've got to win to put ourselves in a share of the district championship. We're going to do whatever it takes, even if it means we got to run him over 20 times.
"He excelled in that role, and I'm just over the moon."
It's hard to believe this is Curtis' first season in the backfield. He made the transition from receiver after playing on the JV last year. That's when he first sparked the idea in Wright's mind.
"In about the third week of the playoffs last year, maybe the second week, we were using him as a running back on the scout team," Wright said, "and we couldn't tackle him. I told every coach on the staff, 'That's our next running back right there.'"
Wright said Curtis never missed a summer workout while learning his new position. The coach said Curtis' vision is what allowed him to take to the role so effectively.
"I just had to go on film," Curtis said. "Just whatever Coach Wright said, hit that one. Whatever gap was open, I had to hit it."
The offensive line has paved the way. The group has embodied the physical identity Wright began preaching when he took over in 2022. That's a big reason Curtis was able to pick up where Vergara left off.
"It makes all the difference in the world to have a good offensive line," Wright said. "A good, strong bunch of guys that understand the system and can get their hips together and push them down the field. That is the strength of our game. I'm a firm believer in the fact that your success is based on how well you can run the ball and control the game in that aspect.
"And how you can wear them down by the end of the game. I feel like we've got the guys to do that."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Running back Randon Curtis powers Post football rushing attack