Laurens’ Martin earns defensive MVP honors at Shrine Bowl

For his curtain call as a prep football player, Laurens’ Duane Martin sure picked a heck of a way to go out.
Martin had eight tackles, broke up one pass, and recovered a fumble on special teams, all in helping South Carolina defeat North Carolina, 28-17, in the annual Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas Saturday – and was named South Carolina’s Defensive MVP in the process.
The game was held at Gibbs Stadium, home of the Wofford Terriers, in Spartanburg.
While Martin continually made good plays on defense in the game, including one tackle for loss as part of his four solos and four assisted tackles, the biggest play he made came on special teams. With 7 minutes, 30 seconds to go in the third quarter, and South Carolina leading 14-10, Martin was Johnny on the Spot as he recovered a fumbled kick return to set up South Carolina at the NC 20-yard line before a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct on SC – but not on Martin – was assessed due to excessive celebration.
Martin is now off to Louisville, where he signed his National Letter of Intent with on Wednesday, the first day of the early signing period.
Check out Tuesday’s edition of The Laurens County Advertiser for a full wrap on Martin’s Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas performance.