Will and Skill: East Ascension Offensive Tackle Brysten Martinez has embraced expanded role
by William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
Parish rival Dutchtown had gotten to within three points of East Ascension with 10 minutes to play in last Thursday’s District 5-5A contest.
The Spartans, in a three-way tie for the district lead with Dutchtown and Denham Springs, picked up a pair of first downs on the ground when a 27-yard completion from quarterback JJ LeBouef to Jeremyah Merriweather moved the ball to the Griffins’ 5-yard line with just under seven minutes left.
East Ascension was trying to regain a two-score lead and put the game out of reach when it called upon its closer deep in the red zone.
Brysten Martinez, a 6-foot-5 ½ inch, 300-pound LSU offensive tackle commitment, lined up as the team’s ‘wildcat quarterback’, a position he played earlier in the game, and carried twice with his second attempt from a yard away, resulting in a 30-21 lead with 2:59 showing.
“We want to get you to where we can run our four-minute offense,” East Ascension’s second-year head coach Brock Matherne said. “We’re going to put the big boy back there, and it’s our best 11 against your best 11, and let’s find out what happens.”
Dutchtown responded with a touchdown in 57 seconds and trailed 30-28, and following a failed onside kick attempt, a special teams unit Martinez was on, LeBouef was able to kneel the ball three times, and the Spartans (6-3, 4-1 in 5-5A) left victorious with an opportunity to gain a share of the league title.
EA hosts Walker (1-8, 0-5) at 7 p.m. Friday, while Denham Springs (7-2, 5-1) entertains St. Amant (7-2, 3-2) in the regular-season finales for both teams.
“For a (offensive) lineman, that’s the best thing you can do and that’s to be able to score touchdowns,” Martinez said after the game. “I’ve never been able to score a touchdown. The feeling’s unreal. It’s unmatched.”
Martinez, the nation’s No. 10 offensive tackle per On3, committed to play college football at LSU on Feb. 13, and his stance hasn’t changed. His position, though, became an ongoing debate between Matherne and first-year offensive coordinator Dane Charpentier, who came over from Teurlings Catholic.
Martinez began the season lined up at tight end, the opportunity to utilize his athletic ability in different areas of the field. After the loss of starting quarterback Zayden Smith to an injury, that position change morphed into time in the backfield. He’s also been split out wide, lined up in the backfield as a lead blocker, and against Dutchtown, punted once and played nose guard.
“I can’t explain to people the complete change in Brysten, his maturity and growth,” Matherne said. “I can go and tell him to play ‘Mike’ (middle) linebacker, and he’s going to light up like a Christmas tree because he just loves playing ball and is willing to do whatever it takes. He knows what he’s getting into at the next level and just wants to enjoy his last year of high school football with his friends that he grew up with.”
One of Matherne’s first priorities was to bring Charpentier to a basketball game where Martinez played a vital role for coach Troy Green’s team. He averaged a double-double for the Spartans (25-5), champions of District 5-5A and a team that advanced to the Division I non-select state quarterfinals.
Charpentier and fellow first-year assistant Dennis Skains joined Matherne for several games where Martinez wooed his new coaches with his soft hands around the rim, footwork, and agility.
His skill set didn’t resemble that of an offensive lineman, making the prospects for his coaches limitless this fall.
“He’s a skill guy in a lineman’s body,” Matherne said. “Coach Skains and I looked at it from a defensive perspective. We had so much depth on the offensive line. We’re a very large-sized offensive line. We felt we had more depth there than the skill positions.
“You don’t really game plan for a (offensive) tackle,” Matherne said. “There’s only so much you can do when you’re a defensive guy, game planning for the offensive line. But when you have somebody that big that can catch the ball, that can run routes, take snaps at quarterback, you’ve got to game plan for that.”
Martinez averaged 17 points and 12 rebounds a game with 2.8 blocks per game last season. With his size and strength inside, he was a difficult challenge for opposing teams to match up with and slow down.
“Brysten was a major part in what we did on offense,” Green said. “He was almost an instant bucket, and for the most part, he required a double team. He rebounded on both ends. His size and athleticism for a man his size is eye-opening.
“The special thing with him is that you have his footwork and hands are elite for a person his size,” Green said. “At times, we would just throw the ball up near him, and he would snag it. I see the same things on the football field now that he’s at tight end.”
Martinez was working toward starting his third year at offensive tackle until meeting with Matherne and Charpentier.
Hearing his coaches’ plans for him at tight end and a change in jersey number from No. 77 to No. 88 were music to his ears. He’s caught 18 passes for 294 yards (16.3 yards per catch), rushed 13 times for 54 yards and a score, and completed one pass for a 30-yard score.
“We told him we were looking at expanding his role in the offense, moving him to the tight end position,” Matherne said. “He had a big smile on his face and said whatever it takes for the team. I looked at Coach Dane and said I think that’s an offensive lineman, excited that he’s going to get the ball.
“Our goal is to always make the opposing team have to game plan as much as possible for all of the things that we do,” Matherne said. “What are you going to do defensively to counteract the fact we have a special talent we’re going to try and take advantage of? We felt it gave us another dynamic to our offense and would make us move the ball better.”
The sight of Martinez running routes and making catches in crowds was actually nothing new to EA’s coaching staff.
In an effort to lighten the grind of the upcoming season, Matherne divides his squad up into two teams – without linemen – for a friendly competition referred to as “Spartan Ball” during the offseason.
Martinez was already showing that he knew how to use his athletic ability in shorts and shirts. Imagine what he could do in a full uniform, given a full head of steam?
“He has natural abilities,” Matherne said. “God blesses some people with abilities, and Brysten Martinez is a blessed young man that has some ability that you don’t really have to teach him; it’s just natural for him.”
He was also part of the team’s 7-on-7 competition this summer, where he was able to show off his arm during a longball competition at a New Orleans Saints-sponsored 7-on-7 event.
The winner? Martinez with a 69-yard heave, against other quarterbacks.
“We played him at tight end and split him out at receiver, and he had a lot of success,” Matherne said of the summer. “He’s a great kid that I’ve had the pleasure to coach. We hope he can continue to lift this team up and keep this run going. I haven’t seen much he can’t do. I’m just proud of him.”
The wheels began to turn for a bigger role for Martinez in the offense once EA, which led 22-9 at halftime, dropped a 29-22 decision to Brother Martin in this year’s opener.
The Spartans later lost the services of both Lewis and his backup, forcing LeBouef into a more prominent role for a team with big aspirations.
“We felt like we had a chance to go win that (Brother Martin) game,” Matherne said. “We had the conversation, players over plays. Players win games, and we had to get the ball in the hands of our playmakers. Coach Dane does a great job of scheming up offense, especially in pressure situations, to get the ball to the big fella. It turned into different ways and how to get him involved because he’s such a mismatch.
“You don’t see 300 pounds move the way he moves often,” Matherne said. “When our quarterback went down, and not that we lost the ability to run at the quarterback position, it just wasn’t as explosive. We figured if we had to be methodical, we’d create our explosion with Brysten. It may not be a 50-yard run, but those 10 yards would be painful for somebody who wants to tackle him.”
The flexibility of being able to line up Martinez in an assortment of places on the field was appealing, Matherne said.
It also gave EA a strategic advantage of not only pigeon-holing Martinez on the left side of the offensive line. Lining him up at tight end, out wide, or in the backfield would keep defensive coordinators trying to match wits with Charpentier.
“We were bouncing ideas and coach Dane took it and ran with it and came up with his package that we’ve had a ton of success so far,” Matherne said.
That expanded to Martinez’s role as the team’s wildcat quarterback. He threw a 30-yard touchdown against St. Amant, which evolved into a memorable 49-48 victory for the Spartans, who then stumbled in a 64-29 defeat at Teurlings Catholic, the No. 2 team in Class 4A.
Martinez ran the ball four times for 11 yards, caught two passes for 28 yards, and converted a two-point pass against the Rebels.
“Our starting quarterback was a really good runner,” Matherne said of Lewis. “We’ve faced five straight dual-threat quarterbacks, and it’s tough to defend when they can extend the pocket or be part of the run game. It’s another person you have to account for. When we lost that element, it was another way to figure out how to gain that element.”
Martinez took over as EA’s wildcat quarterback midway through its first series with Dutchtown, leading 8-0 on Javon Javius’ 86-yard fumble return.
His first play was an 8-yard keeper after faking a toss. He followed with a 4-yard gain, faked another toss for a 1-yard gain in a 10-play drive that wound up with a 25-yard field goal from Anthony Authement and a 10-7 lead.
With Dutchtown experiencing success running up the middle of EA’s defense, Martinez was inserted at nose guard as a deterrent.
Martinez threw an incomplete pass on his only pass attempt on fourth-and-four at Dutchtown’s 41 with 5:55 left before halftime.
The Spartans increased their lead to 17-7 at the 8:39 mark of the third quarter when LeBouef, on first-and-20 after a holding penalty, found Martinez down the middle of the field for a 24-yard score.
“It was a critical moment,” Matherne said. “He’s done that all year for us. He’s found a way to get open down the middle of the field, and he and our quarterback have a really good relationship. They trust each other, and I think that’s huge. They’re best friends and he knew if he put the ball up, Brysten would go get it and he put it in a good spot. He did a good job of going up and boxing out the smaller defender and made a big play for us.”
Dutchtown continued applying pressure with quarterback Owen Fletcher, who scored all three of his team’s rushing touchdowns. He also threw for another score and wound up with 386 total yards, with 181 of those on the ground.
LeBouef had his best night passing with 177 yards and two touchdowns, giving his team a 24-14 lead with 10:20 to go. The Spartans had regained the ball after Don’Jell Smith’s interception, the third turnover the team forced in the game.
The two teams combined for 27 points in the fourth quarter with four successive touchdowns in the last 10 minutes of play.
Not only did Martinez serve as a lead blocker for running backs Jason Blackburn and Jamarius McCarty in the second half, but he also enabled the Spartans to secure the victory after Merriweather’s pass reception to Dutchtown’s 5.
Two plays later, he plunged into the end zone behind the left side of his offensive line.
“He knows he’s targeted every game we play,” Matherne said. “He’s known from the time he gets off the bus. He knows people are going to try and hit him low and do things to him. He goes out and plays football and does what he has to do for the team to win.
“It’s an absolute weapon when you can get to their goal line,” Matherne said. “We’re able to chew up some clock, just run him, gain yards, line up, and do it again. You have four plays for him to get 10 yards, you feel pretty good.”