Something bothered quarterback Cameron Martinez about Muskegon’s Week 1 annihilation of Warren De La Salle.
The Ohio State commit ran for 184 yards on 21 carries, which is outstanding by any standard of measure, but it didn’t please Martinez.
“Last week I was getting tackled pretty easy so I had to get back in the weight room,” he said. “I have to continue to do that, continue to get stronger as the season goes on so I can break those type of tackles.”
He broke those types of tackles in Week 2’s 41-18 rout of defending Division 3 champ Detroit King in Detroit.
Martinez finished with 179 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 25 carries and also completed 6 of 7 passes for 89 yards and a TD.
And then there was his 90-yard kickoff return that resulted in yet another score.
A year ago Martinez led the Big Reds to the D-3 title game before losing, and he had an exceptional junior season. But this year he has shown the ability to run tough between the tackles, not just beat someone to the edge.
“We have to adjust to what they do, said Muskegon coach Shane Fairfield. “They were giving us a lot of overhangs — they were giving us a lot of people to the boundary and they were playing with one backer inside. We just kind of played the numbers.”
The numbers don’t seem to add up for the opposition when Martinez is on the field. He finished with 269 all-purpose yards, which doesn’t include his passing numbers, and he did it against a King defense, which typically doesn’t allow a player to accomplish something that prolific.
That is why Martinez was so pleased with this victory.
“Especially last year with them flying around and how good they are,” he said of King. “They’re a really good team this year, too. They’re young and of course they have a lot of growing to do and so do we. We’re a young team.
“Just to see our players get after it and keep going and pushing the ball. We got key stops when we needed and we were able to score and put up some points.”
