Brother of UNLV basketball player one of Las Vegas’ top quarterbacks

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Tuesday, May 4, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.

Here is how highly the football coaching staff at Cimarron-Memorial High thinks of rising junior quarterback Gerard Martinez: the Spartans will partially ditch their bread and butter of running the football next fall to let the left-handed throwing Martinez air it out.

Letting Martinez, who sat out last fall after transferring from 2A The Meadows, take the reigns of the offense was an easy decision for Cimarron coach Rod Vollan.

Vollan long has been a proponent of getting the ball in his playmakers' hands. And, in the 6-foot-5 Martinez, the large-school classification Spartans likely have the best quarterback in the Northwest Division, the state's most respected league.

"We are still going to be a downhill running team," Vollan said. "But there is going to be balance. We are going to put our playmakers in position to make plays."

Martinez, whose older brother, Mychal Martinez, is a reserve with the UNLV basketball team, left The Meadows after leading it to the 2A state championship in 2008 as a freshman.

With his parents helping pay tuition for his two older brothers at UNLV, Gerard Martinez said also paying for him to attend The Meadows — the most expensive private school in Southern Nevada with an annual tuition of $21,200 — wasn't feasible.

It was tough leaving his friends at The Meadows, but even tougher sitting out last fall per Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association transfer rules.

He spent the year running the scout team offense in practice and charting offensive plays for coaches on Friday nights.

"Last year wasn't a wasted year. Just being able to be on the sidelines for the games was a blessing," Martinez said. "I love this game. I just wanted to be around it."

Now, his wait to return to game action nearly is over. Cimarron, like several schools in Southern Nevada, is in the middle of spring practice. Cimarron opens against Las Vegas High in the last week of August.

Martinez, who passed for 2,145 yards and 33 touchdowns as a freshman, isn't worried about the adjustment from playing in the 2A classification to competing in the "Black and Blue Division," the moniker for the always-competitive Northwest league.

His experience facing Cimarron's defense last year while running the scout team — a group of reserves and ineligible players who run the opposing team's plays in practice — served as an introduction. Cimarron, one of the area's top programs, advanced to the Sunset Regional championship game last year.

"He had to run a variety of different styles of offense with different throws and reads," Vollan said. "It definitely helped broaden his skills."

Martinez has impressed teammates this spring with his accurate touch, team-first attitude and humble approach. Senior-to-be wide receiver Brian Dover, who is Cimarron's leading returning receiver, has quickly become one of Martinez's favorite targets. They often get together at a neighborhood park for extra work in the passing game.

"I have never played with someone with the precision he has in his passes," Dover said. "I can put my hands up from 30 yards away and he will hit me in stride."

Cimarron, which won the state title in 1998 and 1999, always has one of the valley's top running backs — James Poole and Stephen Nixon combined to rush for 2,700 yards and 34 touchdowns in 2009. Next year, the Spartans could have the top quarterback.

Just don't tell that to Martinez. He simply wants to play the game he loves, even if that means handing the ball off 30 times a game.

"As long as we win, it doesn't matter if we run or pass the football," he said.