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This past season, the Tennyson High School Lancers varsity football program enjoyed its best season in years, and arguably in history under the guidance of Coach Terry Smith because of the teams top two players.
Led by Wide Receiver, Alson Paxton Jr., and Running Back, Raysean Martin, the Lancers offense scored a school record of 330 points and averaged 30 points per game.
The Lancers tied the school record for wins with an 8-3 record and advanced to the first round of the North Coast Section (NCS) playoffs. They finished second in the Hayward Area Athletic League (HAAL) to Bishop O’ Dowd of Oakland.
Paxton Jr., the 6’1” 190 lbs. receiver, was born in Berkeley and over the course of his 18 years of life has lived in Berkeley, Pittsburgh, Oakland and Hayward.
Raised by Alson Paxton Sr. and Sandra Smith, Paxton Jr., he described his life growing up as an only child as “real relaxed and chilled.”
Growing up all over the Bay Area, Paxton Jr. looked to his father as his role model for many different reasons.
“He’ll always put me first,” Paxton said describing his father’s love for him. “I got my work ethic from him.”
Paxton Jr. credited the support of his family as a staple in not only his football career, but also in his life growing up.
“My dad, every game he’s always there,” he said. “My mom she can’t always make it,” he admitted, “but she loves that I stay out of trouble ‘cause of football.”
Growing up a fan of the local Oakland Raiders, Paxton always had a love for football and though he flirted with basketball for a while, football was always his first love.
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“I always loved it, growing up we use to play outside in the streets,” Paxton explained. “I didn’t get to play Pop Warner and stuff, my mom was kind of scared of that, but I always just wanted to play and once I got to high school nothing really held me back.”
His favorite NFL player is Calvin Johnson of the Detroit Lions because he can do everything on the field as a receiver and Paxton believes he can do the same.
When Paxton arrived at Tennyson High as a 14-year-old freshman, Coach Smith said he started off as an offensive lineman before being switched over to tight end as a sophomore and then receiver for his final two seasons of high school, where he became team captain.
Paxton Jr. currently owns the records for career touchdowns with 17, touchdowns in a season with 12 and touchdowns in a game with three, which he broke against DeAnza High School.
This past season, Paxton Jr. received All-HAAL first team and Offensive Player of the Year and ended the year as the team leader in receptions (46) and yards (793) and receiving touchdowns (12).
Paxton Jr. credited the belief his coach had in him played a big part in his growth as a player.
“He always pushed me to do better,” he explained. “As a sophomore I was only 15 years old, I didn’t know what to expect on the varsity level but he saw something in me that made me push myself.”
Besides being a phenomenal football player, Paxton Jr. also excels in the classroom.
He graduated from Tennyson High which is in the heart of the Jackson Triangle, where more than 18 percent of the residents live below the federal poverty line, with a grade -point average of 3.88 and earned himself a scholarship to Ivy League school Brown University where he will also be a wide receiver.
He was recruited by UC Davis, Southern Utah and San Diego State but explained he chose Brown because they were loyal to him and because education comes first.
According to Paxton, he is the first person in his family to attend a university and in his spare time, as he likes to put it, “does what guys do,” which includes hanging out, going to movies and talking to girls.
Before games, Paxton Jr. said his favorite artists are Wacka Flocka Flame, J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar.
Paxton, while currently undeclared at Brown, looks forward to the university’s open enrollment policy and believes he will be able to find his true passion someday soon.
The National Football League (NFL) is a dream he believes is attainable but explained no matter what, he is going to get his college degree.
He hopes to be able to give back to Tennyson High one day and explained, if anything, he wants to be able to donate lights so that way the team will be able to have night games in the future.
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The other half of the dominant duo, Martin, is a 6 foot 185 lbs. running back.
He led the team in carries (114), rushing yards (752), total touchdowns (21) and also had three interceptions on defense and returned two of them for touchdowns.
Martin received All-HAAL first team as a running back, second team as a defensive back and second team as a punt returner where he set the school record for a punt return with a 97-yard return against King City high school.
Born and raised in East Oakland by his mother and father Tracy Allen and Booker Pringle in the Village Projects Martin was the youngest of four.
Martin moved to Hayward in the sixth grade with his family.
He has been playing football since he was six years old and like Paxton played basketball for a while, until he realized he loved football more.
“A running back got hurt and I was one of the fastest on the team so the coach moved me to running back. After that year I never stopped,” Martin explained while discussing his first opportunity to play.
He looked up to his oldest brother growing up because he said he was the one who pushed him into sports.
“When I was little he use to have me playing every sport,” Martin said. “He came to every single one of my games throughout my entire football career.”
Martin credited his brother for keeping him calm during games, where he would at times become frustrated with what was going on.
Martin began his high school career at Hayward High School before transferring to Tennyson his senior year.
While at Hayward High, Martin said he played running back and quarterback, and decided he should transfer after the coach quit.
Martin explained he was familiar with Coach Smith because he wanted to attend Tennyson as a freshmen and felt comfortable transferring over.
“All my teammates were saying they were going to transfer,” Martin said discussing his transfer. “I didn’t want to go into a program and not knowing a new coach,” he explained, “I already knew [Coach Smith] so I thought I would be better here.”
Early in Martin’s career he saw multiple high profile Division 1 football programs in the stands as he was being recruited by the likes of UCLA and Oregon State, but felt bittersweet about the recruitment because he had some courses to make up.
“First week Oregon State, then UCLA came second week, then five colleges the fourth week,” Martin explained. “When I saw these big schools I was happy, but then at second thought I was going to scare them away with my grades.”
Once the schools discovered his struggle in school only Southern Utah was left once the dust cleared.
“Southern Utah said they were going to ride with me until the end and that’s what they did,” he added.
Looking back, Martin’s excited he was able to get his academics together, but if he had a chance to redo his high school career over again, he would, but hopes he can be a role model for his nephew and help him not make the same mistakes he did.
Like Paxton, Martin will also be the first person in his family to attend a university and though his goal is to play in the NFL, he understands the importance of school now.
He will be a sports management major at Southern Utah and even if the opportunity arises to take the next step and go pro, he says he would much rather focuse on finishing off his studies and earning his degree.
Martin says he patterns his game after his two favorite NFL players Adrian Peterson of the Vikings and LeSean McCoy of the Eagles and loves to listen to his favorite rapper Meek Mill before games.
While Martin and Paxton believe in the Lancer football program, the presence of their top two players the past season will be missed and they will miss the program from which they learned a lot from.
Coach Smith said he thoroughly enjoyed coaching both players.
“Raysean is really reserved and easy going,” Coach Smith said. “Alson is just a solid individual.”
Although both players left their marks at Tennyson they still believe the program will be fine without them, as Paxton says there should be one goal for the program next season.
“Go all the way,” Paxton said.