Martinez Shines in Big Reds' Opening Run
September 5, 2018
By Tom Kendra
Special for Second Half
Muskegon High School junior quarterback Cameron Martinez already has shown off a plethora of moves in just the first two weeks of this season.
Week 1 was a display of uncanny patience, field vision and sudden bursts of speed – a combination which produced 30 carries for 290 yards and all five of the Big Reds’ touchdowns during a 36-21 win over visiting Warren DeLaSalle in a battle of reigning MHSAA Finals champions.
Week 2 featured more of an option attack and split-second decision-making (as well as a fourth quarter comeback) during a thrilling 24-21 victory over visiting Detroit Martin Luther King in another blockbuster cross-state matchup.
“I love playing in big games like this, with this atmosphere,” a smiling Martinez said moments after the King game on Aug. 31, as a packed house of more than 7,000 fans exited historic Hackley Stadium.
“There is no feeling like this.”
Martinez has played in big games before, but this atmosphere is a regular part of lining up for the reigning Division 3 champion – which he’s doing for the first time this fall. Midway through his sophomore year in January, Martinez – whose step-father is Muskegon athletic director and head varsity boys basketball coach Keith Guy – transferred from nearby Muskegon Catholic Central (which he led to the Division 8 championship as a freshman) to a larger school and a larger challenge at Muskegon High, which has the winningest high school football program in Michigan.
“When I got here, it was like a family right away,” said the 16-year-old Martinez. “That made the process and the transition so much easier.”
Muskegon coach Shane Fairfield made it clear when Martinez came over that no one is handed a starting position for the Big Reds. Martinez prevailed in a competition with senior Johnny Martin III for the starting position.
Muskegon fans also were skeptical at first, and who would blame them?
The relatively thin Martinez had to replace La’Darius Jefferson, a 6-foot-1, 220-pound quarterback with the mentality of a fullback who regularly ran over defenders while leading Muskegon to a 14-0 record and a victory over Farmington Hills Harrison in last fall’s Division 3 championship game. Jefferson, who rushed for more than 2,000 yards and was named The Associated Press’ Division 3-4 Player of the Year, is now a running back at Michigan State University.
Martinez won over the Big Reds’ faithful quickly with his memorable performance against DeLaSalle, which featured several highlight-reel long touchdown runs, along with many tough carries in short-yardage situations.
The humble Martinez, whose athletic ability was noticed by Central Michigan University two years ago when he was offered a scholarship as a 14-year-old eighth grader, deflected all of the praise and gave credit to the huge offensive line in front of him. Muskegon’s line averages 6-2 and 330 pounds, and returns four of five starters from a year ago.
Anthony Bradford (6-4, 350), who has committed to sign with Louisiana State University, anchors the line at right tackle, and the interior three – senior guards Marquis Cooper (6-2, 330) and Dquarius Johnson (6-2, 330) and junior center D’Andre Mills-Ellis (6-1, 290) – also are returning starters. The only new starter up front is senior left tackle Evan Towers (6-1, 290).
Fairfield said both Martinez and the big guys up front deserve credit.
“There is always a spot he’s heading to, and the guys are clearing the way,” explained Fairfield. “But then he is able to improv, and he does things on his own. He is special.”
Next up is a major road challenge Friday at perennial playoff power East Grand Rapids, before the Big Reds finish the regular season with six straight Ottawa-Kent Conference Black games.
Martinez also is expected to be a key contributor this winter on Guy’s Big Reds basketball team.
Now that the Big Red fans have fallen for Martinez, they do have two follow-up questions: Can Martinez continue to run the ball so much and stay healthy for a full season? And can he throw the ball accurately if need be?
Muskegon offensive coordinator Brent White hinted that he plans to share the wealth more as the season wears on to reduce the wear and tear on Martinez. That was certainly the case in Week 2 against King as halfback Jeremiah Lockhart and slots Demario Robinson and Hyrosha Wilson all had key carries.
White plans to introduce more wrinkles to his team’s attack each week, with the goal a more balanced run-pass offense for the big games down the stretch – most notably a looming home showdown on Oct. 12 against undefeated cross-town rival Muskegon Mona Shores – and then the playoffs.
Martinez has 59 carries over the first two games for 444 yards (7.5 per carry) and seven touchdowns. He has yet to complete a pass as a Big Red – Martinez was 0 for 1 through the air against DeLaSalle and 0 for 2 against King.
“We’re a power team, but we can throw the ball if we have to,” said Martinez, who threw for more than 700 yards last year as a sophomore at Muskegon Catholic. “There’s still a lot of room for improvement. I have to protect the ball better and show everyone that I can run and throw. It’s a great start for us, but we have a long way to go.”
Tom Kendra worked 23 years at The Muskegon Chronicle, including five as assistant sports editor and the final six as sports editor through 2011. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Muskegon, Oceana, Mason, Lake, Oceola, Mecosta and Newaygo counties.
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Crusaders Making Most of Opportunities
When Cameron Martinez transferred to Muskegon High in January, it was an opportunity for Muskegon Catholic Central sophomore Max Price.
Price, who has a strong arm and was a standout shortstop on the Crusaders’ varsity baseball team as a freshman, proved he was ready for prime time with a strong performance in MCC’s impressive 35-7 season-opening road win at Algonac.
Price threw for 150 yards and a touchdown against Algonac, which has advanced to at least the third round of the Division 5 playoffs each of the last three years. MCC is 1-1 after a 21-7 home loss last week to Pontiac Notre Dame Prep.
The other big offseason news out of Muskegon Catholic was its announcement that it has entered into a two-year cooperative agreement to allow Muskegon Western Michigan Christian students to play football at MCC.
The agreement will bring much-needed depth to the Crusaders’ roster, as seven of its 32 players this fall are WMC students. However, it also will push the perennial Division 8 powerhouse up to a higher division for the playoffs. MCC will now have to combine its enrollment of 126 with 276 students from WMC for a total of 402, which would likely make it a Division 6 playoff school.
MCC, which has won 13 total MHSAA football championships and 12 during the playoff era, won four consecutive Division 8 championships from 2013-16. Christian Martinez, Cameron’s older brother who now plays receiver at Northwood University, was the starting quarterback on the Crusaders’ championship teams in 2014 and 2015.
– Tom Kendra
PHOTOS: (Top) Muskegon quarterback Cameron Martinez breaks through an opening during a Week 1 win against Warren DeLaSalle. (Middle) Martinez pulls away from a Detroit Martin Luther King defender during last week’s victory. (Below) Muskegon Catholic Central quarterback Max Price hands off during last week’s loss to Pontiac Notre Dame Prep. (Photos courtesy of Local Sports Journal.)
Whiteford's Mensing Bringing Successful System to Westland John Glenn
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
April 26, 2022
Jason Mensing insists that when he showed up at Ottawa Lake Whiteford a decade ago he had thoughts of a state championship on his mind.
It seemed a tall task. The Bobcats had enjoyed pockets of success throughout school history but had just won just five playoff games and one conference football championship over the previous 45 years.
Still, the Tecumseh native and former Adrian College football player was determined.
“We believed if we could imprint our system and develop a strength program and teach the fundamentals and continue to grow, we’d have success,” Mensing said.
The formula was magic. Whiteford went 8-2 that first season under Mensing and tied a school record with nine wins in Year 2. By 2015, the Bobcats were in the MHSAA Semifinals for the first time. In 2016, Whiteford played at Ford Field for the first time. In 2017, Whiteford won a Division 8 championship. The Bobcats were a combined 93-24 during his decade running the program, including 11-2 this past fall.
“The reality is we do believe in our system,” Mensing said.
After 10 years, Mensing announced this week that he would be taking his system elsewhere. He will become the next head football coach at Westland John Glenn, a Class A school west of Detroit. The Rockets haven’t had much success in recent years, but school officials are excited to have Mensing on board.
“I’m excited to see what Jason can bring to our school and our program,” said John Glenn Principal Eric McCalla. “He is a culture builder. That’s one of the things we need here.”
McCalla is very familiar with Mensing. McCalla coached football for 16 years at Grass Lake and Manchester. At Grass Lake, McCalla’s team scrimmaged against Mensing’s for several years.
“It was definitely a great hire for us,” McCalla said. “We needed a different direction, and we feel confident that he is the right person for the job.”
Mensing, who will step down as athletic director and director of student advancement at Whiteford at the end of the school year, planned on meeting the John Glenn football players and parents this week. He will start immediately to build a coaching staff and relationships.
“They’ve struggled the last couple of years, but there is a solid history there,” Mensing said. “The first thing is I want is to bring stability and consistency to the program. They’ve had three football coaches in four years. We have to create an atmosphere where playing football is fun, create a culture where kids are excited about being part of the program.”
John Glenn has known football success. During the 1990s, John Glenn made several deep runs in the playoffs, reaching the Finals in 1993 and the Semifinals two more times.
The Rockets open the season Aug. 25 against Hartland in a nonleague game and play a challenging schedule in the always-tough Kensington Lakes Activities Association. They finished 2-7 last season and are seeking their first winning finish since 2014.
“There’s no doubt that we play a tough schedule,” McCalla said. “In any given year we play one if not two or even three teams ranked in the top five or top 10. It’s a tough football conference.
“I think the first thing he can do is instill confidence in our kids. That is an important first step – and not just the kids, but the parents and the community. Having confidence in our program.”
Mensing was an academic All-American at Adrian College, where his father Henry Mensing coached and served as athletic director. Jason Mensing has made four other coaching stops during his 19-year career and picked up a lot of playoff appearances and coach of the year awards, and a built a lot of relationships.
He led Addison to the playoffs in his first season as varsity coach. He spent one year at Grayling, and won an Associated Press Class B Coach of the Year award during his three years at Owosso. He returned to Lenawee County to coach Tecumseh during the mid-2000s. In his one year away from high school football, he coached at Siena Heights University.
Whiteford lured him from the college level in 2012.
It wasn’t long before the milestone games and victories began piling up. Ironically, two Bobcats playoff losses were important steps in the team’s ascension. The first was a 2013 loss to New Lothrop in the Division 8 Regional Final. The Bobcats had beaten Sterling Heights Parkway Christian 59-6 and Detroit Allen Academy 61-20 in two home District games, then went on the road to face the Hornets, a powerhouse program.
“That loss was really big,” he said. “It showed us how far away we were but showed us what we needed to do to get there.”
Whiteford won seven games the following year, and in 2015 the Bobcats won three playoff games for the first time in school history, including a victory over a strong Climax-Scotts team. They lost the following week to Waterford Our Lady of the Lakes, but again, Mensing said, it was a loss that showed them the way.
“It was the moment we knew we belonged,” he said.
The Bobcats have ‘belonged’ ever since, proving not to be a one-and-done type program.
The 2017 team scored an incredible 737 points and punted just twice all season. The closest any opponent came was 16 points. Whiteford defeated Mendon in the Semifinals and Saginaw Nouvel in the Division 8 championship game.
Even in 2019 when the Bobcats went just 5-5, they upset a powerful Sand Creek team. Last year Whiteford reached the Division 8 Semifinals and led Hudson 22-0 at halftime before losing to the eventual champion, 28-22.
“There were some ups and downs,” Mensing said. “There were times we implemented things that didn’t necessarily work. Overall, though, we kept growing.
“When I look back at those years, the focus we started on growth and getting better year after year worked. We had 10 years of consistent growth. I do feel we are significantly more mature and better of a program than we were when I got here in 2012.”
Now, Mensing turns his attention to John Glenn, a school six times the size of Whiteford. He believes in the system he’s bringing with him and in the students at John Glenn.
“He’s a kid guy,” McCalla said. “We need people who are going to be there for our kids, not just football players, but all of our students. It’s not just about football, but life lessons.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Coach Jason Mensing confers with a Whiteford player during one of the team’s two runs to Ford Field. (Middle) Mensing will be leaving the program after 10 seasons with the Bobcats. (Top photo by Tom Hawley/Monroe News; middle by Cari Hayes.)