Southside Christian QB Ja'Corey Martin dazzles in Class A high school state championship

COLUMBIA — When Southside Christian quarterback Ja'Corey Martin called for the football on fourth down, in the shotgun, with 1:44 to play in the first quarter, the show had finally begun.

He looked left, then back right and saw no one open. So, as he has so much this season for the Sabres, he took off running. He danced around a defender at the line of scrimmage, then shook another and galloped 18 yards to the end zone for the first touchdown of the Class A state championship.

It was a dazzling display of ability on his seasons biggest stage.

"I seen bodies everywhere," Martin, who had three rushing touchdowns in the Sabres 28-0 win for a second-straight Class A football title in Columbia on Saturday. "I just kept moving around, kept my feet moving ... I was gonna find a way to get into the end zone, and that's what I did."

BACK-TO-BACK: Southside Christian wins second-straight Class A football championship

He's only a junior. The 11th grader led the Sabres with 272 passing yards and 77 rushing yards in the state championship. In the Upper State title game, he rushed four times for scores and had a passing touchdown.

And if the Southside Christian Sabres want to attempt a run for a third Class A football title in a row, he's going to be the major piece in doing that.

"We lose about seven or eight starters," Southside Christian coach Mike Sonneborn said, "So this groups got a chance to be really good again. The receivers, all but one is an underclassmen ... most of the offensive line is coming back. So the offense is going to return a lot."

Martin, who led the Sabres to a perfect 14-0 this year as the starter under center, hasn't lost a start while playing varsity football for the school. He totaled 22 touchdown passes, 22 rushing scores, 1,776 passing yards and 646 rushing yards on the year.

In Saturday's game, Southside Christian was 6-of-12 on third down. That success on third down was largely a product of the juniors dual-threat ability.

During the state title game he threw two first-half interceptions. But the junior had the poise and gusto to connect for three long balls in the second half and bounced back with two touchdowns after the halftime buzzer.

"I just feel like I had to get in a groove and stop overthinking things," Martin said about his first-half play. "Second half … we just came ready."

Now, he and fellow junior Tyler Harof – who had a team-high 106 receiving yards – will return to help lead Southside Christian's offense next season as seniors. More than likely, SCS could find themselves back in the title game on the shoulders of the duo, and sophomore tailback Jayvion Sherman. The latter had 31 rushing yards in the game Saturday, which was second on the team.

"He's been magnificent," said Harof, who had a game-long reception of 48 yards in the second half. "I've been with him since seventh grade, back in middle school he used to just be the running quarterback. Now he can sit in the pocket, throw deep balls.

"On that (deep ball, which came in the fourth quarter and helped setup the final touchdown for SCS) he just laid a dime to me. It's really amazing to see how good he's gotten over the past couple years."

Southside Christian hasn't lost a game since November 2019. Next season with Martin at the helm, the Sabres offense could very make noise again and help Southside Christian win a third straight state championship.

Joe Dandron covers high school sports for The Greenville News. You can contact him at jdandron@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter: @JoeMDandron.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Southside Christian quarterback dazzles in Class A SC state title game