Mekhi White shows he's ready to be Randolph High football's next star with 5-TD day

RANDOLPH -- Next man up, right?

For the Randolph High football team , that next man appears to be Mekhi White. And that could work out just fine for the Blue Devils.

Randolph suffered a serious injury blow in last week's loss to Mashpee as star senior running back Nate Gomes-Correia was lost for the season to a broken ankle/fibula. Heading into Thursday's South Shore League Tobin Division battle with Hull, the Blue Devils needed one of their other backs to fill the void.

White, a 5-8 junior, did just that. Showcasing the speed that made him a standout in the 100 meters in outdoor track last spring, he scored five first-half touchdowns (three runs, a pick six and a punt return) to spark a 67-22 rout of the Pirates that pushed Randolph's record to 4-1 (1-1 in the division).

"With one of our best running backs going down, I knew I had to step up and take the spot of being the Number 1 running back on this team," said White. "That was my plan for this game."

After Hull (2-3) grabbed an early 3-0 lead on Sam Szabo's 17-yard field goal, White took over, scoring on a 41-yard run, a 27-yard run, a 35-yard interception return and a 77-yard run for a 27-3 lead. He later ran a punt back 50 yards for a TD for a 48-10 lead. Randolph was up 55-10 at halftime, and the second half was played with a running clock.

The Blue Devils, who came in No. 6 in the MIAA Division 8 power rankings, also got TD runs from QB Abraham Cornet (10 yards), Haggai Joseph (65 yards), Seneca Spencer (8 yards), Zach Noel (15 yards) and backup QB Santos Santiago.

"I'm proud of them," said Gomes-Correia, a senior captain who puttered around the sideline with his left leg on a scooter. "I always knew they had it in them. We've got great players, good backs. I wasn't the only good one on the team. The others weren't getting the love (before); now they've got the love to go and show what they can do."

In particular, Gomes was not surprised by White's star turn. The pair had provided a solid 1-2 punch in September with both averaging more than 11 yards per carry. Gomes, who ran for 1,272 yards and 14 TDs last season, had 303 rushing yards through the first four weeks, highlighted by a big outing vs. Blue Hills (12 carries for 168 yards). White had 260 rushing yards coming in with pretty consistent production -- games of 55, 68, 69 and 68 yards.

With Gomes now sidelined, White gets top billing in the Blue Devils' always tough ground game.

"I've been telling y'all" how good he is, Gomes-Correia said with a smile. "He's too quick. Once you see where he's going (as a defensive player), he's gone."

That certainly was the case in this game as White (3 carries for 145 yards) scored on his only three (official) touches on offense with the Pirates unable to lay a hand on him on any of his scoring runs. He said the 77-yarder, which pushed the Blue Devils' lead to 27-3 in the second quarter, might have been the longest of his career. "Spring track definitely helped in that case with stamina," he noted.

White was a Patriot Ledger/Enterprise All-Scholastic last spring for his work in the 100 meters -- he was the Div. 6 state champ (10.93 seconds), placed third at the Meet of Champions (:10.87) and was 10th at New Englands (:10.98).

"And the best part is that he comes from a great family," Randolph coach Jonathan Marshall said. "His older brother Malik was an important part of our (2021) Super Bowl team (that beat Hull in the final). His mom's the president of our Gridiron Club. This is a Randolph football family and we couldn't be happier to have him here."

Quarterback Luke Dunham was a bright spot for Hull. He threw a 9-yard TD pass to tight end Isaiah Green in the first half to temporarily halt Randolph's momentum -- cutting the deficit to 33-10 -- and added a pair of TD runs in the second half, running hard and breaking tackles when the game was hopelessly out of reach.

"Luke gives us everything he has," Pirates coach Mike O'Donnell said. "He plays both ways. Just too much pressure for him (by the Randolph defense). They're just big up front. We thought we could manufacture some stuff with Luke out of the pocket, which he did, but when you're running for your life (it's hard)."

Hull, which has dropped two straight, has to pick up the pieces with home games vs. Mashpee (3-1) and Carver (4-0) looming the next two weeks.

"This is the South Shore League. This is the gauntlet," O'Donnell said. "We've got a tough road to hoe."

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Mekhi White shows he's ready to be Randolph High football's next star with 5-TD day