A long time coming
Thursday, December 1, 2005
By RICH STEVENS - Charleston Daily Mail

It was all a matter of waiting his turn for Nitro middle linebacker and offensive tackle Ross Martin.

And, he doesn't even mind it took the Wildcats (12-1) to qualify for the Class AAA state championship game to get recognized.

"You always like to have respect," said Martin, who will be playing the final game of his high school career Saturday in the noon championship against undefeated Morgantown (13-0) at Wheeling Island Stadium.

"As long as you know you did well and the coaches know you did well, that's all that matters."

The 5-foot-10, 220-pound four-year starter has taken his lumps, spending time as a freshman and a key member of the run-stopping portion of the defense in the rugged Mountain State Athletic Conference.

It didn't start out particularly well for Martin, however.

The Wildcats finished 5-5 that season, before an 8-3 season in 2003 and a first-round playoff loss and a 9-3 finish last season and a second-round playoff loss to Morgantown, which has now won 27 consecutive games.

"It makes it a whole lot sweeter, having to wait," Martin said. "We're a whole different team than we were last year."

And certainly a different team than during his freshman year, when the Wildcats were involved with almost as many blowout losses as victories. That season, they lost three games by 20 or more points and won four by more than 20.

"What we used to tell Ross (when he was a freshman) was ‘Sit right there and if it comes to you, hit it,'" Tinsley said.

"He wasn't used to reading and the speed of the game and because he sat there, there was a whole lot of people coming down on him and he took some pretty good licks as a freshman. But, he always got up and stood right in there. There was never any indication of fear in Ross."

Sometimes, he's even hard to find because of the swarming Nitro defense, and the fact that he's not listed on Nitro's roster on the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission Web site.

Actually, he doesn't fear attention but doesn't mind the lack of it, either.

Watching record-setters Josh Culbertson at running back and Chris Fulmer at wide receiver have been part of the football package for Martin, even if they get the lion's share of the publicity.

In fact, when he's done his part on the line during a play, he'll trot down the field to join Culbertson in celebrating his touchdown and, in the meantime, watch him run.

In other words, he's moving toward the end zone at the same time Culbertson is.

But don't expect the affable Martin to take credit for many of Culbertson's 7,636 career yards rushing.

"Josh is a great running back," Martin said. "He'd get his yards anyway. I'd like to think we make it a little bit easier on him."

At the same time, he's made things easier on Tinsley and Defensive Coordinator Mike Scott, who became an assistant on the Nitro staff just prior to Martin's freshman season.

"It makes you feel good that somebody like Ross is getting recognized, because of all that he's given you as a player for those four years," Tinsley said.

"He took his lumps, but he's giving out a lot more than he's taking."

· All three games are being broadcast live on the radio.

Friday's Class AA championship game between Bluefield and Weir is being broadcast on WCHS 580-AM; Saturday's noon Class AAA game featuring Nitro and Morgantown can also be heard on WCHS 580-AM beginning at 11:45 a.m.

The Class A championship between Wheeling Central and Williamstown will be available on WSWW 1490-AM beginning at 6:40 p.m. Saturday.

The Nitro-Morgantown game also will be televised live locally on Charter channel 22 at noon Saturday.