Freshman QB helps spur Meadows’ spread offense

When The Meadows’ football team headed to Utah State this past summer for training camp, coach Frank DeSantis had designs on a run-heavy, single-back offense.

Then he saw freshman quarterback Gerard Martinez standing tall in the pocket, whipping the ball into tight spaces with his strong left arm.

“We came back from camp and just decided that we’d be better as a team if we ran the spread offense,” DeSantis said. “I just thought if we could go to that, we would spread the defense a little more and (Martinez) could get better looks at what he was supposed to read.”

Thirty-one Martinez touchdown passes later, it appears DeSantis made the right decision.

The Mustangs (9-2) have ridden Martinez’s breakout season to the Class 2A state semifinals, where they are the South’s top remaining seed and host Battle Mountain (9-2) at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Martinez, who has thrown for 1,717 yards with only 12 interceptions, didn’t know he’d play so well so quickly.

“Definitely, you have doubts,” he said. “You have to prove it to yourself that you can do it. But once you know you can do it, you know it’s your responsibility to play like you can.”

The Meadows, though, is hardly one-dimensional. Pat Kenny has rushed for 1,023 yards and 16 TDs, and nine players have caught TD passes.

“It’s exciting because (Martinez) is a freshman and he’s doing so awesome,” Mustangs lineman Brett Leibowitz said. “Our line’s doing well, our skill players. Everyone’s just doing their jobs right.”

The Mustangs eliminated defending state champion Needles (Calif.) 28-27 last week. That came after they won the regular-season meeting 41-0 on Oct. 24 to hand Needles its first Southern League loss since 2005.

“Especially because they’re the defending champs, it feels good and makes us feel like we’ve come far this year,” Martinez said of sweeping Needles. “I think it takes a lot of discipline to beat a team twice.”

The Meadows is gunning for its first state title since 2001, when it won its fifth straight 2A crown.

“Most of these kids, we’ve been playing together since middle school,” Leibowitz said. “We’re working well together. We all want it.”

Mountain View at Pershing County — If Mountain View’s 40-24 win at Lincoln County last week can be considered a major upset, it pales in comparison to what the Saints hope to pull off Saturday.

The Saints (5-6) squeaked into the playoffs as the South’s No. 4 and final seed.

But after knocking off top-seeded Lincoln County and being re-seeded for the Class 2A state semifinals as the South’s No. 2 seed, they find themselves one win from the state title game.

“To be a game away from the state championship game, it’s something our kids have worked for,” Mountain View coach Ray LeBoeuf said. “In our first year of 11-man football, I don’t know if you could ask for more than that.”

Mountain View visits North No. 1 seed Pershing County (10-0) at 1 p.m. Saturday.

The Mustangs boast perhaps the best defense in 2A, allowing 7.9 points per game.

“I’m trying to figure out if we can score,” LeBoeuf quipped.

They had no problem doing that last week, when they bolted to a 34-8 halftime lead and quarterback Raymond Velarde wound up throwing for three touchdowns and rushing for two more.

But can Mountain View do it against a defense that has pitched three shutouts this season, including two in its past three games?

“The odds are stacked against us,” LeBoeuf said. “At the same time, I think we’re not going to be overlooked. It’s certainly something where our kids are excited to play.”