AMHERST, N.Y. (WIVB) — Bryce Hinsdale started at running back in youth leagues.

“But then I caught a pass, and I thought, I really like doing this,” Hinsdale, now a junior playing for the undefeated Clymer/Sherman/Panama football team in contention for the NYSPHSAA Class D championship, recalled with a smile “I started working hard on it to get where I’m at today.”

Hinsdale became Section VI’s all-time receptions leader during CSP’s 50-13 win against Section V champion Canisteo-Greenwood in a Far West Regional playoff game Friday night at Williamsville South. Hinsdale’s fourth reception of the night was the 168th of his career, breaking a 20-year-old record held by Amherst’s Mark Rubin, who went on to play for Penn State and sign with the St. Louis Rams.

“It’s a surreal feeling to have that record,” said HInsdale, who credited his current quarterback, Connolly Cup finalist Tate Cantanese, along with his older brother Gerrit, the quarterback for CSP’s repeat state championship teams in 2018-19, now playing for Washington & Jefferson College. “It’s what we’ve been working for.”

Hinsdale set the record on a short screen pass from Catanese early in the third quarter, after the Wolfpack had built a 29-0 lead, and exited the game afterward, along with most of CSP’s starters.

“I didn’t know about the Section VI record until Thursday, I think it was,” Hinsdale said. “I knew I needed four, and I asked Coach Harper – he was going to take me out at half, and I asked him for one play and one screen, and he got me it.

Hinsdale’s reception total is now fifth in NYSPHSAA history, 59 away from the state record of 227 held by Bruce Williams from Christian Brothers Academy. Hinsdale has 50 receptions for 504 yards and nine touchdowns this season.

CSP (11-0), ranked No. 2 in the state in Class D, moves on to the NYSPHSAA West semifinal on Friday at Cicero-North Syracuse against No. 1 Tioga (12-0), the defending state champions who have won nearly 40 games in a row over the past three seasons.

“Somebody’s going to have to beat them, and we want them,” Hinsdale said. “We think that we can beat them with our offense right now. We just gotta stop them. We gotta get prepared this week, and the coaching staff will do that for us. We got film on Monday, we gotta be locked in the whole entire week because this Tioga team’s real. They’re real good, so we gotta beat them.”