Former Bengal WR Mike Martin

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http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art...30101/510070437

Friday, October 7, 2005

Martin's Senators in unique position

By Tom Groeschen

Enquirer staff writer

ON THE RISE

Taft did not win a football game between 1997-2000. The school dropped varsity football for the 2001 season, after only six players showed for preseason workouts.

Taft hired former Bengals wide receiver Mike Martin as coach in 2002, and the program has made steady progress. The Senators' won-lost records under Martin:

2002 - *2-6

2003 - 4-6

2004 - 4-6

2005 - 5-1

*The team played only eight games in 2002

Mike Martin arrived at Taft in 2002 with a big press conference.

The former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver smiled for the TV cameras and passionately explained how he would revive the Taft football program, which went winless in 1999 and 2000 and did not even field a varsity team in 2001.

Four seasons later, Taft (5-1) indeed has turned things around. The Senators need just one win for the program's first winning season since the early 1990s, and Taft is favored to beat Aiken (1-5) in a Southwest Ohio Public League-National game at Taft tonight at 7:30.

"The kids that have stuck it out, I told them they'd see these good times," Martin said this week.

Taft, an inner-city school in the West End, had winning seasons in the early 1990s but then started having trouble fielding a team. Taft had started to lose and lose big.

"Kids would make fun of the guys who wanted to play football and say, 'Hey, you don't want to play football for Taft because they're losers,' " Martin said.

By summer 2001, only six boys showed up for Taft varsity football practice. The school canceled the varsity season but kept the junior varsity and freshman teams, and then Martin took over in 2002.

Taft athletic director Eric Martin - no relation to Mike - and principal Anthony Smith sought out Mike Martin when they heard Mike was interested in coaching.

"We had about 40 guys stick it out on Mike's first varsity team," said Eric Martin, himself a 1989 Taft graduate. "Now we've got 65 guys on varsity and 90 in the program overall. Mike has done an awesome job of getting kids out, keeping their grades up and getting them to stay involved."

Mike Martin (Bengals 1983-89) grew up fatherless in the projects of Washington, D.C., and has told Taft players he once walked in their shoes.

"There's nothing these kids can tell me that I haven't heard or seen," Martin said. "It was worse in D.C. than it is here. I'm living proof that you can make it."

Martin said he has battled all kinds of obstacles, including bad attitudes, poor academic habits and lack of parental involvement. It's still a daily struggle, Martin said, but it has gotten better.

"We've had to dismiss some kids who didn't want to make the commitment to football," Martin said. "Those kids on the outside are sick about it now, because they see we're winning."

Aric Evans is one who hung in there.

Evans, a senior, was a freshman starter on Martin's first Taft varsity team in 2002. Evans is Taft's top receiver this year with 15 catches for 277 yards (18.5 per catch) and five touchdowns.

"We've got a focus now," Evans said. "We've finally found a steady quarterback, and the coaching staff is better than ever."

The quarterback, Deante Ware, a senior who moved in this year from Cleveland, has thrown for 764 yards and eight touchdowns this year.

The coaching staff includes defensive coordinator Jimmy Turner and defensive backs coach Rodney Heath, both former Bengals defensive backs. Turner played for the Bengals from 1983-86, Heath from 1999-2001.

"They've taught us a lot," Evans said.

Martin mentions Ware, Evans, and other players, including WR/LB Bryant Richardson, WR/KR Eddie Gray, TB Antwain Smith (top rusher with 291 yards) and TE/DE Sokoni Johnson (top tackler with 44) as standouts.

Taft, a Division III school, is shooting for the program's first playoff appearance. Harbin computer analyst Steve Shuck projects the Senators will finish one spot shy of the playoffs, but that could change with four games remaining.

"Our goal is the playoffs," Martin said. "For these kids, that would be quite a reward."