Marcus Maye chomps competition

LARGO – Melbourne Holy Trinity defeated an overmatched St. Pete Catholic team 35-6 on Friday night. St. Pete Catholic had no answer for Holy Trinity’s do-it-all athlete Marcus Maye.

Maye finished with 142 yards and three rushing touchdowns on 16 carries. On his final touchdown run, Maye broke a tackle, spun out of another tackle, and dove across the goal line for the 6-yard score. He also had a 35-yard reception while playing receiver. Defensively Maye had seven tackles and an interception.

On his interception, Maye made several moves and took it back 40 yards for what appeared to be a touchdown. As Maye was heading toward the end zone, he dropped the ball at the 1-yard line before starting to do the Gator chomp. A St. Pete Catholic player fell on the ball in the end zone and the Barons took over at the 20-yard line.

In addition to the fumble on the interception return, Maye also had two rushing touchdowns called back because of penalties. Maye showed his leadership ability by not allowing the penalties get him or his teammates discouraged.

“I was very frustrated, but you know you have to play through adversity and that’s what we did, we didn’t get down and we just kept rolling,” Maye said.

Maye, who is committed to play safety for the Gators, played running back, quarterback, wide receiver, safety and punt returner for the Tigers. Holy Trinity head coach Mark Ainsley said Maye’s versatility allows other players to get involved with the offense.

“What Marcus does, is he’s able to set up other guy, because eyes are on him,” Ainsley said. “The one thing I love about Marcus…win. He don’t care, he could have one carry…win, win, win. Marcus had a good game, he ran hard. He’s a competitor that’s what he does, he competes.”

Maye credits his offensive line as a reason for his success in the run game.

“I thought I played pretty well for the most part,” Maye said. “The St. Pete defense played great, they battled all game. I told my offensive line to keep battling, stick and stay on their blocks and we’ll get things working.”

The 6-foot-1, 195-pound athlete got a chance to watch Florida’s first two games against FAU and UAB. What did Maye think about his future team?

“The defense was great,” Maye said. “Everybody looks fast on defense. It’s like they’re rolling. Coach Muschamp is doing a great job with the defense. They look excited – they’re ready to play football.”

Game notes

  • St. Pete Catholic junior running back Ryan Green led the Barons with 12 carries for 128 yards and the lone touchdown. Green is already receiving interest from several DI schools including Notre Dame, FSU, Purdue, Virginia Tech, and Kentucky.
  • The game was played at Northside Christian School because St. Pete Catholic is replacing the lights at their field.
  • Holy Trinity moves to 3-0 on the year while St. Pete Catholic drops to 0-3.

Be sure to check out Derek Tyson’s video interview with Florida commit Marcus Maye after his game Friday night: GCTV – Marcus Maye.

Gator Country Recruiting Coordinator Derek Tyson can be reached at Derek@GatorCountry.com. You can also follow him on Twitter at DerekTysonGC.