AUBURN — Pine Tree Conference defenders find themselves in a darned if they do, darned if they don’t quandary whenever they meet Darnnell Hairston on a football field.

Give Edward Little’s 6-foot-1, 180-pound senior workhorse tailback any space to operate and Hairston will usually run around, over or through them. But bringing Hairston down isn’t going to help keep him down for the balance of the game. If anything, it is just going to make him more determined the next time he gets the ball.

“It usually gets me more mad when I get tackled,” he said. “My adrenaline gets pumping, especially the first hit of the game. That’s what gets me going.”

One of the things that sets Hairston apart in a conference loaded with talented runners is his ability to keep going through one of the heaviest workloads of any running back in the state.

Through six games, Hairston has 142 carries (23.7 per game), by far the most in the PTC. The closest ball-carrier, Lawrence’s Shaun Carroll, is 24 carries behind.

Hairston is third in the conference with 833 yards rushing and has scored six touchdowns on the ground. His consistency from week to week has been remarkable considering the pounding he takes and the way opponents game plan to try to stop him.

“I just stay focused,” Hairston said. “Coach (Dave Sterling) kept telling me that I was going to lead the team. I just decided to take responsibility of what Coach kept telling me and telling me and telling me.”

From the end of Hairston’s junior year, Sterling continuously reminded him that he would have to be ready to take a leading role in EL’s offense.

“He’s a very hard-nosed runner. He likes to get downhill into a hole,” Sterling said. “Our offense is based around the I-formation and having a good tailback and a fullback who’s a great lead blocker. Darnnell works well with the people that are there. That’s why we’ve entrusted him with taking that work load.”

“I had him as a coach when I was a kid, too, so I have a really good relationship with him,” Hairston said. “By him telling me I was going to lead the team, I trusted him. I knew that it was time to take the spot and what I had to do for the team.”

Hairston credits his offensive line with helping him do his job and is thankful he can be honest with them when he communicates blocking adjustments to them.

And there have been a lot of adjustments. The Red Eddies have seen teams employ multiple defenses designed to keep Hairston in check. In response, they have moved away from the power-I that was a strength for them last year and used more spread formations so Hairston can get to the edge without having eight or nine defenders waiting for him at the line of scrimmage.

In the past, Hairston could rely on his size and power to run through those would-be tacklers. And while those elements are still an important part of his running style, he has added an extra burst to make defenders miss.

“His acceleration through the hole has improved dramatically,” Sterling said. “He really lowered his shoulder pads a lot better as he got closer to the season and exploded through the hole and it’s really been a remarkable change. He’s been used to being the bigger kid on the block for so long that now he’s really excelling at matching up with people and taking them on in space really well.”

Hairston’s track and field background has helped him become a more complete runner. He started track in middle school to improve his running skills and keep his legs strong for football and has developed into one of the top hurdlers and high jumpers in the state. Last spring, he won a Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference title in the 300-meter hurdles and finished second to teammate Connor Harris in the high jump.

“When he’s vertical in the hole or when he’s trying to beat somebody to the corner, he can jump and move really well,” Sterling said. “With him having such a good background with track, it looks like he’s gliding at first. But when he sticks his foot in the ground and takes off, it’s ‘Where did he go?'”

In some ways, Hairston relishes when defenders have a bead on him. He sees it as a test of wills, not only to see who’s still standing at the end of the run, but at the end of the game.

“I don’t hesitate. I just go at them,” he said. “That’s one reason I like being a running back, because I can just go at it and force myself to see how far I can push myself to go in a game. That’s what I do every game. I just push myself and push myself.”