MARTIN, Mich. — The Martin football team is back in the eight-player division one state championship game, but the Clippers took a very different road to get here.
"Last year we knew it was going to happen, everybody knew that we were going, everybody knew that we going to win putting up big numbers," Martin senior linebacker and tight end Abe Dykstra said. "This year when we were 2-2 there was a big question because we had lost some very key players and it was like 'I don't know about this year.' We had a lot of guys step up, a lot of guys put in a lot of work, a lot of effort and we all came together as a team so this year is more emotional than it was last year, it's a lot more hard work."
The Clippers have won eight games in a row and will now play Indian River Inland Lakes (11-1) at 11am on Saturday morning at the Superior Dome in Marquette.
Martin (10-2) will be the designated away team in the game, but expect their experience from a year ago to help them.
"We're pretty much the home team since we already have a lot of experience," Clippers sophomore linebacker and running back Hayden Buell said. "We only got like three freshman that haven't been to the dome so we are sitting pretty good."
"I think that is a big advantage for us, we are staying in the same hotel, we are doing the same exact thing," sixth-year head coach Brad Blauvelt said. "These kids have all, most of them have went through that same process so I think it is a big advantage."
Inland Lakes is coached by 2001 Belding High School graduate Travis Meyer.
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