Seven touches, four touchdowns.

Those are Angel Hickman’s offensive stats in three games as a running back for the Watertown Red and Black (5-3), which will end its regular season with a 7:30 p.m. Empire Football League matchup with the Syracuse Shock (7-2) tonight at the Alex T. Duffy Fairgrounds.

With a win, the Red and Black could finish as high as third in the league. A loss could knock the team down to fifth and force it to go on the road for its first-round playoff game next week, depending on how other EFL games shake out tonight.

Hickman, who lists himself at 5-foot-6 and 160 pounds, joined the Red and Black and its already loaded backfield in early August.

Hickman said that his size allows him to “run smaller than a lot of people,” making him especially difficult for defenders to catch when he gets behind his blocks.

“If you’re running down here, it’s going to be harder for someone to come get you,” Hickman said.

In his season debut against Amsterdam on Sept. 8, Hickman received just one carry and took it 77 yards, immediately assuming the role of offensive spark plug. In his home debut the following week, Hickman finished with 110 yards and three touchdowns on just four touches.

In all, Hickman has tallied 192 yards and three touchdowns on just six rushes, averaging 32 yards per carry. He has one catch for 22 yards, which he also took for a touchdown. He is already second on the team in scoring among active players.

“He can get lost in the rubble,” Watertown coach George Ashcraft said. “He can get in behind people and you don’t even know where he is, all the sudden he’s by everybody.”

Hickman’s speed and big-play potential have allowed the Red and Black to line him up as a halfback, slot receiver, and kick returner, which gives him more opportunities to play in a backfield that was already posting the best numbers in the EFL.

Led by workhorse Joe Brennan (114 carries, 688 yards and eight touchdowns), quarterback Brian Williams, and halfbacks Harold Taylor and Anthony Noel, the Red and Black have gained a league-high 1,962 yards on the ground to go with 22 rushing touchdowns.

“I feel like my touches are better this way and it keeps me rested,” Hickman said. “They’ll carry the load, and then I can pop for one good play, so it’s all good.”

Hickman grew up in a military family and spent most of his childhood overseas, spending his high school days in South Korea.

He moved to the area around 2009 when his parents were stationed at Fort Drum.

Hickman played two seasons with the Watertown Revolution, earning the Northeastern Football Alliance’s Rookie of the Year Award in 2011.

He decided to join the Red and Black this summer with a small group of players after the Revolution’s season was cut a week short due to its opponent, Cortland, not having enough players.

Hickman said that he was hesitant to join the team at first because it already had so much talent in the backfield, but believes that he made the right decision.

“It’s a big family thing,” Hickman said. “I love football, and everybody here loves football. They’ll have your back if you have their back.”

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