ALL-AREA FOOTBALL: Live Oak's Martinez named top defender

Unlike most varsity players, Alex Martinez didn’t take up playing football in elementary school, or junior high.

Martinez had never even considered playing the sport at all when he was a kid. That is until he hit high school and a group of his friends talked him into giving it a try.

“I never had an interest in football, but I had some friends who played and they pressured me to try out,” Martinez said. “I got to start on the offensive line my freshman year, and since I wasn’t riding the bench, I kinda got into it.”

Now, his buddies are glad they talked him into coming out.

Over the last four years, Martinez has become a one-man wrecking crew for Live Oak High where he anchored both the offensive and defensive lines for the Lions.

While usually it’s the linebackers who lead the team in tackles, Martinez bucked the trend. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound senior played most of his games in other teams’ backfield and he wreaked havoc on offenses no matter who the opponent was.

As a defensive end, Martinez was voted the Sacramento Valley League’s defensive MVP after leading the Lions with 80 tackles, nine sacks and a safety. He also recovered three fumbles and scored a defensive touchdown.

He even got a few carries out of the backfield and scored a pair of rushing touchdowns when the Lions went to their aptly named “Tank” formation in short-yardage situations.

“We put him back there because he was fast and he’s a good lead blocker,” Live Oak coach Dan Johnson said. “He had a 55-yard TD run against U-Prep where he just pulled away from guys. It was pretty amazing to watch.”

But it was on the defensive side of the ball where Martinez truly shined.

On running plays, he was practically immovable and his ability to set the edge and squeeze down running lanes made the Lions a very tough team to run against. And if teams opted to pass the ball, they did it at their own peril as Martinez consistently provided pressure and big hits on opposing quarterbacks.

“His biggest attribute was his ability to contain and hold his own on the line,” Johnson said. “He was fast enough to run guys down on the outside, so it was hard for quarterbacks to get away. As a pass rusher, he had the speed and size to be pretty scary.”

Big plays were his specialty and for his efforts, Martinez has been named the A-D All-Area Defensive Player of the Year for 2011.

He is the second Live Oak defensive player to take home the honor, joining Sean Callahan, who won the award in 1993. Jose Curiel (1992) and B.J. Mills (2002) were both offensive players of the year for Live Oak.

“He wasn’t exactly a vocal team leader, but he was a guy who worked hard and came ready to play on Friday nights,” Johnson said. “He was never negative and he never screwed around. He really enjoyed the game and that was evident by the way he played.

“He’s a rare kid as far as ability and good attitude,” Johnson added. “I wish I had a handful of guys like him.”

Indeed, hard work was Martinez’s trademark.

After falling short in the Northern Section Division III championship game his junior year, Martinez and several of his teammates decided to ramp up their offseason training program in hopes of bringing the Lions their first section crown since 2002.

However, Live Oak fell short of its goal by falling to Trinity in the opening round of the playoffs.

“I had to get quicker and stronger in my legs, so I put in a lot of work with my buddies at the gym and on the field this summer,” said Martinez, who praised assistant coach Jose Acosta for getting him ready for the season. “It was our last year and we wanted to win a championship, but unfortunately we came up short.”

And, like any good player, Martinez did his homework during the season to figure out the tendencies of opponents.

“When we watched film, I would pay attention to their formation to see what their running backs would do,” he said. “A lot of times I would call out the play, and sure enough, they would run that way.”

Martinez also gave a lot of credit to Johnson and assistant coaches Tony Walton and James Von Bargen, who he says “taught me everything about playing the offensive and defensive line.”

But the best part of playing football for Martinez was taking the field on Friday nights with his buddies. After all, they were the ones that gave him his start.

“It felt really good playing with the people I grew up with and winning games with my friends,” Martinez said. “It’s too bad we couldn’t finish, but I love those guys.”

FIRST-TEAM DEFENSE

DEFENSIVE LINE

Any good defense starts with the guys up front, and these four were the best at stopping opposing offenses in their tracks.

Lindhurst senior Tyler Vaitautolu was a force on both sides of the ball and was named the Golden Empire League’s Lineman of the Year for the second consecutive season.

The 5-foot-10, 235-pounder had a motor that never stopped and averaged nine tackles per game while leading the Blazers in sacks with 10.

Joining Vaitautolu on the first-team defensive line is a pair of Sutter Huskies in junior Nathan Ahlers and senior Luke Leonard.

Ahlers was a standout in the middle of Sutter’s defense where he racked up 80 tackles and 5.5 sacks while being named to the Butte View League’s first team.

An All-Northern Section second-team pick, the 6-foot-1, 245-pound defensive tackle controlled the line of scrimmage for a Huskies’ defense that surrendered a mere 8.25 points per game.

With Ahlers and company controlling the inside, Leonard was able to work his magic at defensive end where he tallied 84 tackles, 6.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

The fourth member to man the trenches is Marysville senior defensive end Chris Montgomery, who led the area with 10.5 sacks.

An All-GEL pick, Montgomery may have been small in stature at 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds, but he made up for it with his speed, desire and hustle.

LINEBACKERS

The 2011 season saw plenty of strong linebackers, but there were four that stood out above the crowd.

Topping the list was Wheatland senior Thomas Aiono, who led the area with 147 tackles for an average of 14.3 per game.

The Butte View League Defensive MVP and All-Northern Section second-team pick was a tackling machine and totaled 120 solo tackles on the year.

Lining up next to Aiono is Sutter junior Ryan Staas.

One of the biggest hitters in the area, the 6-foot-2, 200-pounder was second on the team in tackles with 134 and was a first-team All-BVL selection.

The third member of the linebacking corps is River Valley senior Ricky Owens, who was named to the Tri-County Conference first team.

Playing in the ultra-competitive TCC is tough, but Owens was up to the challenge and led the Falcons in tackles with 92 while recovering a pair of fumbles.

Rounding out the unit is Pierce senior Chris Tapia, whose 107 tackles was the fourth-best total in the Mid-Valley area.

An All-SVL selection, Tapia also recovered two fumbles, recorded a sack and scored a defensive touchdown to spearhead the Bears’ defense.

DEFENSIVE BACKS

Patrolling the secondary are four ball-hawking defensive backs that could change the game.

Leading the way is Sutter junior strong safety Philip Robledo, who did a little bit of everything for the Huskies while earning All-Northern Section accolades – the only Mid-Valley player selected to the first team.

Robledo supported the run like a linebacker and his 138 tackles were the second most in the area behind Aiono. He also intercepted three passes, recovered two fumbles and forced one while being named All-BVL for the second straight year.

Also lining up in the secondary is Pierce junior Nate Smith, who led the area with six interceptions this season.

A two-way player for the Bears, Smith also forced one fumble, recovered one and ran for a pair of touchdowns to help lead the Bears to a share of the SVL title.

Joining Robledo and Smith in the defensive backfield is Maxwell senior CJ Mims, who picked off five passes in nine games for the Panthers.

Another solid two-way player, Mims rushed for 270 yards and four touchdowns and had 299 yards receiving and four scores to help Maxwell to a share of the Mountain Valley League championship.

Filling out the secondary is Colusa senior Cyrus Yerxa.

Although the RedHawks won just one game, Yerxa was a force on both offense and defense. His five interceptions were the second most in the area and his 807 yards receiving ranked among the best in the Northern Section.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Doing the place kicking for the All-Area team is Pierce senior Taylor Cabral.

Also the Bears’ starting quarterback, Cabral hit on 45 of his 48 point after kicks this season, by far the most in the area.

Always an underrated aspect of the game, Gridley junior Mat Scott helped the Bulldogs consistently win the field position battle with his punting ability. He averaged more than 33 yards per punt and his 13 boots inside the 20-yard line led the area by a wide margin.

Doing a little bit of everything this season was East Nicolaus senior Tommy Sleva, who gets the nod as the All-Area kick returner.

Sleva averaged 23 yards per kickoff return and was also a force catching the ball, hauling in 48 passes for 820 yards and 11 touchdowns.