Aiken shocked to be left off shrine bowl

TigerNet Staff · Correspondent · Friday, November 04 2011

Martin Aiken - Defensive End
TigerNet: (3.94)

Height: 6-3 Weight: 250 Hometown: Bamberg, SC (Bamberg-Ehrhardt HS) Class: 2012

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From the Times and Democrat:

With eight sacks under his belt heading into the playoffs, Aiken has found extra motivation in being overlooked.
"I was shocked by (being left off)," he said. "That was something that, as a senior, I was looking forward to. For it not to happen, it kind of shocked me, but I have more goals to accomplish in Bamberg and that is the main thing.

"It is definitely something that motivates you, though. Now, you want to prove every doubt that anybody had about you wrong. You want to show that you can most definitely do everything they didn't think you could do. I'm a guy that takes the negative and makes a positive out of it. Not being picked has amped me up to go work harder."

Sure, the Class A teams that stand between the Red Raiders and a return to a state title game love hearing that Aiken is extra motivated. He was already one of the better defensive ends in the state.

"He has just had a stellar year," Crosby said. "He played on both offense and defense and played all 10 games. You don't find many kids that can do that. Many coaches overlook that here in single A that the kids go both ways. He plays his butt off. I figured his junior film showed what type of player he was. That is the way he got recruited the way he did."

Read the full article here

A T&D All-Area first team defensive end as a junior, Aiken recorded 112 tackles and 13 sacks and 36 tackles for loss. As a sophomore, he had 35 tackles and 5 sacks. Committed to Clemson University on 6/26/2011.