Big Win for Berryhill and Aiden Martin in Battle of Top Schools and Top Linemen
STILLWATER – High school games in the state have been pretty exciting over the opening few weeks. Sure, there have been some blowouts, but there have also been overtime and one-point nailbiters. That has been the start for the Berryhill Chiefs and Oklahoma State commitment Aiden Martin. Martin has played both ways at offensive and defensive tackle in a 24-23 opening loss to Class 4A No. 9-ranked Cushing in overtime and then turning the tables with a 31-30 win over Fort Gibson.
“We lost the Cushing game in overtime by one point, again trying to put them away on a two-point conversion,” Martin said of the opener. “And then we turn around and beat a better team by one point in the next week. That's just what Berryhill is.”
Martin is one of the primary weapons for the Chiefs as he protects quarterback Max Harland, who completed 22-of-25 passes for 253-yards in the win including a go ahead touchdown to Ian Mallicott. Martin also mans the defensive interior and helped stop the two-point conversion attempt by Fort Gibson at the end to preserve the win.
“Yeah, it was a great game,” Martin said. “They are a really good (Class) 4A team and we had a really great week of practice. We came out, we knew what the game plan was, we practiced all week and we practiced hard, and we weren't gonna let a bigger team knock us down, you know. And they came out scored first, but we went right down the field and scored again. That’s about the end of it. We traded blows back-and-forth and it was a great game.”
In the contest Martin did bang heads a few times with the Tigers four-star 2027 prospect in 6-7, 260 pound lineman Cooper Hackett. It was a show in the trenches.
Martin chalked the loss to Cushing in week one up to first game jitters, but he also admitted that he found out that he wasn’t in as good a shape as he thought.
“It's good. I mean I'll admit when we were playing Cushing, ‘I was like man, I am out of shape.’ But playing 150-to- 170 snaps in a game is no joke,” Martin said of going both ways and now heavier at close to 300 pounds. “So I was still adjusting to the weight gain from over the summer, but with Fort Gibson that was yeah, I felt really good that game.”
Obviously, the weather has helped as Oklahoma has had a cooler late summer and not a late summer with smoking September Friday nights.
“Yeah, yeah it could be pretty hot, but we've been we've been blessed with some nice Friday nights,” Martin agreed.
This week Berryhill (ranked No. 3 in Class 3A) prepares for a home game with Bristow. Martin, solidly committed to Oklahoma State is off to a good start.
