NORTHAMPTON — Coming into Friday night, Alex Martinez was one victory away from becoming Smith Vocational’s all-time leader in wins as a quarterback.
Following the Vikings’ 37-12 victory over Keefe Tech, Martinez eclipsed the previous mark of five with the sixth win of his career.
Accomplishing the goal meant enough on its own, but doing it at home in front of friends and family was the cherry on top.
“It means the world to me,” Martinez said. “Watching the games here, playing football in the back as a kid while the game was going on, it was my dream to be out here and set records. And that dream is true now.”
Alongside Martinez’s individual mark in the record books came a team feat. The win saw Smith Voc improve to 3-0, a start that had never before been reached in program history.
“This is what we’ve been working for,” Vikings head coach Alex Subocz said. “I’m not eloquent enough to put into words how great this feels. Almost all of our juniors and seniors have been playing since they were freshmen and sophomores. They’ve been the ones out there for the last two years, and now they’re getting the success. They’ve earned it.”
Subocz didn’t undersell the importance Martinez, a senior, has had on the Smith Vocational football program as a whole.
“The day he walked onto the field, he’s been a leader, he’s been a talented player, and he’s always led by example,” Subocz said. “Every record that he has here couldn’t go to a better kid. He’s scrapped and earned every one of them.”
Smith Voc’s offense came out firing on Friday night, with Martinez leading the charge, and never took its foot off the gas. Aside from an opening-possession punt, the Vikings scored on every offensive series.
“We like to incorporate both the run and pass,” Martinez said. “All season, we mainly have been running. But now, opening up the pass, if I’m any other team I’d be scared. We can run, we can pass. I applaud Keefe Tech, they had a very good line, but they couldn’t keep up with our offense tonight.”
The biggest play of the night came with four seconds left in the first half. After a big return from junior Bryan Leyton set the Vikings up at the Keefe Tech 48-yard line, Subocz turned to Martinez asking if he wanted to take a shot at the end zone. Martinez didn’t hesitate.
On the next play, he fired a dart over the middle to freshman Brayden LaRose, who spun out of a tackle, picked up a key block from Jared Baer, and dashed down the sideline for the score. This put Smith Voc up 24-12 heading into halftime.
“That was the momentum swing,” Subocz said. “Before I called the play, I just asked Alex if he’s comfortable taking a shot, and he always is. Called the shot play, and it worked. Brayden had an excellent individual effort, Jared threw a great block. Couldn’t draw it up better than it happened.”
The Vikings put the game on ice on their first drive of the third quarter with a 13-play, 73-yard drive that took over nine minutes off the clock. Martinez connected with LaRose once again, this time from 6 yards out to put Smith Voc up 30-12 with 8:48 remaining in the fourth quarter.
“Those long, sustainable drives in the third quarter, those are momentum killers,” Subocz said. “I’m a firm believer that you want time of possession in the third quarter, so you go into the fourth quarter with all the momentum and you can just put your final stamp on the game.”
LaRose, a freshman, was magnificent throughout the entirety of the night. He totaled 147 yards and two touchdowns and was Martinez’s favorite target. Despite the young age, LaRose performed like a seasoned veteran on Friday. LaRose lines up next to Martinez’s go-to guy John Majewski, who also had a monster day – hauling in 101 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
“He’s grown into what we need him to be, and that’s a weapon,” Martinez said. “Last year we had Majewski in the slot, but now we can line him up out wide and have Brayden in the slot. It’s a double whammy, and it’s hard to stop for defenses. Brayden has stepped up, and he runs hard. He’s hard to bring down.”
Defensively, the Vikings have been lock down in the second halves of their first three games. Smith Voc has given up just seven second-half points in its first three games, including zero on Friday.
“I wanna credit my assistant coaches for making halftime adjustments, and then the big credit needs to go to the kids for executing things we haven’t practiced a lot,” Subocz said. “It’s two weeks in a row now where we dominated in the second half.”
Smith Voc (3-0) travels to McCann Tech next Friday at 7 p.m. looking to continue its winning ways.
