Any coach in any sport will say defense wins game, and Martin proved that again shutting down Marcellus 28-8.
The victory was the Clippers’ second in a row and their overall record is now 2-1 while their Valley Division in the Southwest Michigan Conference is 1 -0.
We are starting to get it.’ said Martin Coach Randy Hunt. “We talked about it earlier this week and they are understanding that to be successful we have to play as a team and not as 11 individuals.
“As good as our defense has been so far. I don’t believe we have played as well as we can yet. We have the capability to be much better.”
Martin held Marcellus to a minus 23 yards rushing in the second half, though yielding 72 yards in the air. Most of those yard were earned by the tough running of Brandon Clark after each of his five catches. He alone accounted for 63 of those second half yards.
Martin, meanwhile, intercepted Wildcat quarterback Rocky Stoner once and caused three fumbles, one recovered by Austin Pillers just when Marcellus was knocking on the Martin door.
Both teams battled even through the first quarter. Marcellus scored early in the second stanza with Mark Butz capping a 13-play 57-yard drive with a five-yard run at the 10:50 mark and he then added the two pom! conversion. Marcellus took that 8-0 lead into the locker room at the half.
First half stats showed Marcellus with 117 total yards with 62 on the ground and 55 In the air. Clark accounted for 48 of those on four receptions.
Martin had 95 yards rushing and 8 passing with Payton Hunt leading the way with 73 yards on eight carries.
But in the second half, things began to come around for the Clippers. With 9:05 left to play in the period, Carter Hilton picked off a Stoner pass, his sixth interception of the year, and returned it 19 yards to the Wildcat 33. With Hunt doing the majority of the work, the Clippers moved the ball to the Wildcat 8, where Hilton took it in on a quarterback keeper to make it 8-6 with 6:34 left in the third quarter.
On the next series Martin’s defense held firm and when Stoner attempted to punt on fourth and 7 from his own 45, he was sacked by Robbie Martin for a 7 yard loss. Three plays later Hilton scrambled himself and picked up 15 yards to keep the drive alive. Five plays later, Hunt scored from three yards out and Luke VanPutten took care of the two point conversion to give Martin its first lead. 14-8.
Martin scored twice more in the fourth and final quarter, with Van Putten taking a screen pass from Hilton 30 yards for a touchdown at the 6:48 mark and Hilton running In another score from four yards out with 1:13 to play. Both extra points were kicked by super soph Alejandro Guevara, who Is now a perfect six-for-six on the season.
Hunt finished with 131 yards rushing on 19 carries, while Hilton finished with 95. Martin led the defense with six tackles, while Pillers and Dugan Dortch each had four. But the entire defense shared in the victory by keeping Marcellus at bay throughout the game and gang tackled the Wildcats consistently.
Martin’s victory sets the stage for next week’s matchup at home against Saugatuck, which is 2-0 and 1 -0 In the Valley Division following a convincing 50-0 victory Friday over Bloomingdale.
In other Valley action, Decatur got its first win of the season with a 44-0 victory over Eau Claire.
