High school football notes

PASSING ALONG some city high school football notes . . .

During Saturday's coin toss between St. Joseph's Prep and Frankford for the AAAA city championship, Prep senior captain Chris Martin walked to midfield on his own terms.

A knee injury sustained late during Prep's Catholic League championship win against La Salle kept him out and also forced him onto crutches.

However, clad in mostly crimson, Martin eschewed the helpers for the toss and walked to the center of Charles Martin Memorial Stadium with his fellow captains.

"This whole week I've been using the crutches a pretty good amount," he said. "It's a hassle, and I guess I just didn't want to look as weak as what crutches can make you seem. I just wanted to be able to walk out there on my own."

Despite the noticeable hitch in his giddyap, Martin, who turned 18 yesterday, carried it well, with an almost confident strut.

Learning how to overcome adversity is something preached by Prep head coach Gabe Infante, Martin said. Martin also said it's a lesson taught by football, the game he chose to pursue collegiately (Johns Hopkins) over baseball, which initially had his heart.

His teammates scraped by on Saturday with a 10-7 victory for the school's first city title triumph since 1977. It was also the first start Martin missed since becoming a starter last season.

"I just kind of felt out of control," he said. "But I knew I couldn't just sit there and pout on the sidelines because I had to help Jack [Clements] out and help the whole offense out."

Clements, a junior, started at quarterback and was pressured into a 5-for-13, 22-yard night by a capable Frankford defense.

Martin called it a "great win" and "humbling" at the same time because the Hawks found a way to win despite scoring less than 30 points for just the third time this season.

Martin remains hopeful about returning soon - he meets with school trainers during free periods and then again during practices for rehab - and is confident in his team.

"I think Jack did a good job managing the game, and no matter what happens with me, I think he'll be fine," Martin said.

This season, Martin's 5.5 yards per carry [entering Saturday], was tops among city QBs, and his 8.67 yards per pass was good for second [Episcopal's Ryan Whayland was first with 8.74]. Also, Martin's 1,995 combined passing/rushing yards took seventh overall with La Salle's Kyle Schumur head of the class with 2,475.

Martin's dual-threat ability, which stems from his previous life as a fullback, is what makes him a problem for defenses.

As a freshman, he played fullback for half the season until a game of catch with former Prep ninth-grade coach Steve Wagner - during halftime of a varsity game - changed everything.

Initially, Martin started as a wildcat QB until he gradually learned the nuances of the position as a sophomore.

But some fullback tendencies remained.

"I definitely don't have the moves that 'O' [Olamide Zaccheaus] and De'Andre [Swift] and John [Reid] have, so I just kind of run my hardest and when somebody gets in my way I just kind of drop my shoulder," Martin said.

A different type of wildcat, with Zaccheaus at QB and Martin set out wide, was the formation when Martin injured the knee. His was the final block that sprung Zaccheaus for an important 12-yard, insurance score in the 30-20 win over La Salle.

No matter if he returns this season or not, his team likely will still look to him for leadership. It was a costly play personally, but Martin doesn't seem one to sulk.

"Definitely no regrets," Martin said. "I probably would have regretted if I took the play off and let the defender make a play on O. So, no regrets about that."

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Last week, MLK senior Delane Hart became the first receiver in Public League history with 1,000 yards in a season, according to Tedsilary.com. His two-catch, 87-yard day against Archbishop Wood did the trick. Sixty-eight yards and a TD catch against Imhotep on Thanksgiving will net him 2,000 for his career and the single-season Pub record with 14 scoring grabs [Akil Stokes, Germantown, 2002] . . . In the first quarter of Wood's 52-8 thumping of King, Wood junior Jake Cooper made a tackle only to emerge with part of his face mask separated from his helmet. "I didn't notice at first until I got up and my face mask was all wacky" Cooper said after the game . . . Later that same game, Wood coach Steve Devlin [now 6-0 in city title games] yelled, "John, you don't get your name in the paper for not paying attention!" It was unclear to which John he was referring. John Loughlin and John Hall, both juniors, are the only two on the team's roster. Fess up guys! At least you made it in print so you can tell your coach, "Take that!" . . . During Imhotep's 48-8 AA title takedown of West Catholic, Panthers QB Andre Dreuitt hit Nasir Bonner in the second quarter with a screen pass on fourth-and-9. With Taleem Muhammad (298 pounds) and Johncarlo Valentin (317) stampeding in front, Bonner leaked into the end zone barely touched to make it 21-0 after Denniston "DJ" Moore's PAT.