Martin signs with Toledo

FORT RECOVERY — Most youth football players have aspirations of earning a college scholarship.

Caleb Martin had his wish granted.

Martin, a Fort Recovery High School senior, signed a national letter of intent today to play quarterback for University of Toledo.

“It’s a dream come true, to be honest,” he said. “Ever since I started playing I had the dream of singing that paper on national signing day.

“I’m pretty glad I found the school that is the right fit for me.”

Martin becomes the first FRHS player to earn a football scholarship.

“He’s been quarterback through a stretch of a lot of record seasons for us,” said FRHS coach Brent Niekamp.

Martin, who is 6 feet, 3 inches, tall and 200 pounds, helped lead the Indians to the program’s first playoff berth as a sophomore in 2014. The following year, Martin — scout.com lists him as a 3-star player and the No. 6 quarterback in Ohio — led Fort Recovery to the program’s first state title.

In Columbus on Dec. 4, 2015, Martin set Division VII state championship game records for pass attempts (39), completions (25), passing yards (385) and passing touchdowns (five). Both he and Niekamp credit his breakout performance on the state’s biggest stage as a springboard to getting more exposure to college coaches.

“Tremendously,” said Martin, who guided the eighth-ranked Indians (13-2) to a 35-14 victory over second-ranked Mogadore. “To be completely honest, I don’t think I would have gotten that offer if I didn’t go to state or if I didn’t have the game that I did.”

As a junior he threw for more than 2,400 yards and 22 touchdowns.

“That game, I’d say, and the two games leading up to that were probably the three biggest stages that I’ve played on,” he added. “That really helped me get that scholarship offer.”

Martin started focusing on his skills the summer before his breakout season, attending camps to hone his craft.

“I think those things helped mechanics, those technical things that you really sort of have to take your own initiative at really getting good at those,” Niekamp said. “He showed he was able to translate those things into Friday night.”

The recruiting process was rather quick for Martin, who had received interest from a handful of other regional schools including Miami (Ohio), Bowling Green, Indiana, Ball State and Cincinnati.

“It is a lot of fun,” he said.

He took an official visit to Toledo on March 3, not expecting to receive an offer. Once he was offered, he spent a week talking with family and coach. He announced his commitment March 11 on Twitter.

“It’s a perfect fit for me,” he said. “It clicked (during a visit) that if I get offered that place was going to be home for me.”

As a senior, Martin didn’t quite have a repeat performance he did as a junior in terms of his statistics. He threw for 1,648 yards and 16 touchdowns with 11 interceptions. He also ran for 64 yards and four more scores, all the while missing two games because of an appendectomy. Martin’s potential game-tying two-point conversion pass fell incomplete in the final minute in a 35-33 loss to the Minster Wildcats in the regional championship game, one week after the Indians (8-5) upset top-ranked Covington 41-14.

Since his commitment in March, Martin has spent the last 11 months building a class of athletes around him to play for Jason Candle, a former UT offensive coordinator who just finished his first year as head coach. Candle and the Rockets were 9-4, including a 31-28 loss to Appalachian State in the Cramton Bowl. Toledo was 6-2 in the Mid-American Conference West Division, behind only Western Michigan (13-1, 8-0 MAC).

“I took it to myself to try to surround myself with the best players in the area,” said Martin, who also said he’d be content with redshirting. The Rockets’ junior quarterback Logan Woodside’s 4,129 passing yards ranked seventh in the country while leading the nation with 45 passing touchdowns with nine interceptions.

“With Logan coming back, I’d be happy with redshirting and learning from him … learning the offense and learning everything I can from him,” he said.

And Niekamp believes Martin’s work ethic will translate to the next level.

“He’s a great kid to coach,” Niekamp said. Martin ranks second in FRHS history for completions (412), passing touchdowns (49) and career passing yards (5,463). “He really wants to get better every day. He’s coachable. He wants to affect his team in a way that makes his teammates better.

“That is what they say about great players.”

At Fort Recovery, Martin was one of them.

When he reports to camp in June, he’ll have the chance to make his mark as a Rocket.