(MCT) SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Opposition defenses ran stunts and blitzed and the coaches might be a series or two behind, puzzling out the schemes. There were no eyes overhead, no cameras to capture the action. But there was Zack Martin. And when he trotted to the sideline, he reported in detail what he saw, that everyone else could not.

So coaches immediately pursued adjustments. Linemen knew what to do because Martin effectively told them. Thus the St. Matthew Warriors of Indianapolis CYO football solved problems via a player who was no tackle dummy: Zack Martin, who was also about 12 or 13 years old at the time.

“He just had this knack for picking up the little things,” said Keith Martin, Zack’s father, who was a defensive lineman at Kentucky as well as the coach that benefited from his fifth- and sixth-grade son’s wisdom. “He always had that ability to learn not only his position but what the other people around him are supposed to be doing as well.”