There is no better time than the present to anoint another Independence Bank Player of the Week. Independence Bank is proud to sponsor a weekly article highlighting players in the areas where Independence Bank flourishes who embody the same type of revolutionary service to their respective football teams which has made Independence Bank unique and special in the banking industry.
Independence Bank has a goal of achieving everyday excellence, and this week we are focusing on a player who was instrumental in helping to lead his team to the Class 5A State Football Championship as only a freshman and then polished off an incredible sophomore season at one of the harder places to break into any starting lineup, one of the premier programs in Kentucky’s second largest classification. Going into his Junior season, after the sophomore year he was able to piece together, leaves little doubt that Class of 2022’s Kobe Martin is ready to take his place among Kentucky’s most promising next-level prospects.
Martin’s South Warren High School is located right down the road from three Warren County, Independence Bank branches. There is one on 877 Fairview Avenue in the Williamsburg Square; one on 2415 Nashville Road; and a third on 1950 Scottsville Road. Go on down and see our friends at Independence Bank and give them both the opportunity and privilege to earn your business and demonstrate what makes them the best in the banking business and the fastest growing financial institution in Kentucky.
We have constantly maintained there is no All-State team anywhere which doesn’t completely miss on players who should have been included but weren’t. None of our teams are any different.
Famously, in 2017, we missed on a running-back who had run for 2,004-yards from scrimmage and scored 29-rushing TDs for a 5A school. Not that any of our RBs on that team should have been taken off but, clearly, we missed on that player.
Well, Kobe Martin, like his teammate Luke Burton, both from South Warren High School, will go on the list of our famous misses. Martin, wearing No. 23 for South Warren, carried the football 217-times in 2019, gaining 1,167 yards (12 games), with 15-rushing TDs. He also lead the Spartans in offensive scoring.
Coming into the junior year, the year we really see players take-off, it will be interesting to see what Martin is able to accomplish with another year of weight-training, growth, and physical maturity. He will be leaned on heavily, particularly in South Warren’s ground game.
Just last season, Martin accounted for 61% of the team’s total ground production. What will be interesting to see is how many reps he ends up getting on defense in 2020.
Like Burton, who is primarily a LB with RB as an offensive position; Martin, primarily a RB, also plays LB, but secondarily. It would appear to us both of these prospects have a lot to offer on both sides of the football for this team and program.
South Warren, who won the Class 4A State Football Championship in 2015 before being realigned into 5A, and winning that title in 2018, had a disappointing season, but only by its standards. After polishing off a 15-0 in 2018, the Spartans (in the same district with powerhouse Bowling Green High School) exited the playoffs in the second round and finished 10-2. Having young stars around like Martin (and Burton) certainly lends to a rosy picture for the Spartans coming into the 2020-season.
Congratulations to Kobe Martin, both for his Revolutionary Play in 2019 and that which is to come in 2020, all of which has earned him this week’s recognition from the fastest growing bank in the Commonwealth of Kentucky thanks to the men, women, and financial products at Independence Bank.
This is Coach HB Lyon, reporting for Kentucky Prep Gridiron and reminding you that WE’RE JUST CALLING IT LIKE WE SEE IT!
Great article!
Thank you very much sir