Miracles propel Martin to back to back football titles

Martin used a couple of miracles worthy of a made-for-TV movie Saturday to pull out its second straight eight-man football state championship in a wild 30-26 triumph.

It was a game Clipper fans, coaches and players likely will never forget, and it was a game Indian River Inland Lakes would like to forget.

The title game seemed like a lost cause for Martin right up until the very end. But just like a heroic made-for-TV film, the “good guys” showed grit, determination and most all, luck, in coming from behind and shocking the Bulldogs, who led 26-6 midway in the fourth period.

The Clippers were shut out in the first half, something that hasn’t been done since Hector was a pup (a phrase used often by the late Ron Merrill, longtime coach and athletic director at Martin). They finally scored a TD in the third quarter to pull to within a couple of touchdowns, 20-6, but then trailed 26-6 against an opponent that had posted a shutout over Pitsford in the state semifinals the week before.

That’s when the magic started.

The Clippers scored two unanswered TDs on a short by run by Haylen Buell and QB Gabe Meyers’ pass to Taegan Harris in the fourth period to close the gap to 26-22, but the second score ame with just 35 seconds left in the ballgame. Everybody in the Superior Dome knew Martin would try an onside kick to regain possession, so the odds of pulling it off were not good. The Clippers had failed in ntheir earlier attempts.

But Mike Branch pounced on the pigskin at the Indian River 45, astonishing everybody in the house. Then came the second miracle 24 seconds later, a 21-yard quarterback keeper by Gabe Meyers into the end zone with only five seconds remaining. The frosting on the cake was the two-point conversion by Abe Dykstra.

It was a more than satisfying ending for a Martin team that lost badly to Gobles in September and by one point to Bridgman the week just before that. They then reeled off nine straight victories to finish at 11-2, the same record they had the year before when they won their first eight-man championship.

Martin also won the Class D state crown in 1987.