Phoenix lineman turned running back rushes for 400+ yards, 6 touchdowns in game

PHOENIX (AZFamily) — It’s playoff time for Arizona high school football, and one of the big Cinderella stories is Barry Goldwater.

The north Phoenix school is the 16 seed in 5A, and they’re led by a running back who has his own Cinderella story.

Dylan Hayhurst is the perfect representation of Bulldogs football – tough.

“He’s a grinder,” says Goldwater head coach Frank Lautt. “He loves it. So we just give it to him.”

The Bulldogs give it to Hayhurst a lot.

In the regular season finale on Friday night, he carried the ball 47 times for 413 yards and 6 touchdowns.

“I’ve never seen anything like that. In all my years of coaching, that was the first time,” Lautt said.

In the 54-47 win against Willow Canyon, Hayhurst broke the Goldwater High School single-season and career rushing record.

The 5′6″ 180-pound senior also leads the state in rushing yards (2,238) and rushing touchdowns (34).

“It’s hard to bring me down. It takes a couple people,” says Hayhurst. “I break tackles pretty well. I’m not going to let you bring me down easily.”

The really crazy part about all this is that Hayhurst, who’s been playing football since he was 5 years old, was always an offensive lineman until just last year.

“Our running back transferred away and our coach was like, ‘We need somebody else,’” says Hayhurst. “I was like, ‘OK,’ [I] lost the weight, got taller. Just stepped right in.”

Hayhurst says it’s a “lineman’s dream” to run the ball.

And that’s not the only dream realized this season.

Sporting a 7-3 record, Barry Goldwater High School is headed to the playoffs for the first time since 2007.

“Hearing the kids around school talk about it, it’s really special,” Lautt said.

The team celebrated on the day the brackets were announced.

“Our group chat of just us players was going crazy. Like, ‘We’re in, we actually made it. Now’s our chance,’” Hayhurst said.

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