STUART – Ricardo Weaver is a wide receiver.
While it is the Martin County senior’s primary position on the field, he does other things as well.
The 5-foot-7, 145-pound speedster is also a return specialist. He has come through for the Tigers in both kickoff returns and punt returns at different points of this past season.
Truth be told, Weaver is our Co-Special Teams Player of the Year with sophomore kicker John Connolly for one play in particular.
But before we get to that, let us highlight his statistics from this past season.
Here they are right below:
•20 receptions
•402 receiving yards
•6 receiving touchdowns
•96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown
Here are the honors that Weaver has received for this last season:
•Martin County’s Offensive MVP
•New Era Prep Special Teams Player of Week 11
•TCPalm’s Treasure Coast Second Team Offense: WR
Let us look at some top plays for Weaver that happened throughout the season:
And now for the big one:
Weaver spoke on his game-winning 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown with no time left.
NOTE: The Treasure Coast area’s Play of the Year resulted in Martin County’s 27-22 upset win on the road over Jensen Beach in Week 11 of the regular season. It happened on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022.
“I felt like I had to give everyone hope during that moment,” Weaver said. “I was locked in because it’s like everything happened in slow motion. After Jensen scored, I seen people on our side starting to leave. Jensen celebrating and our teammates on the sideline mad or with their heads down. But I knew the game wasn’t over until the clock hit zero.”
Weaver broke down his historic play further and into greater detail.
Photo credits: July Sanchez
“So the first kick was a good squib kick to Denzel [Alexander’s] side,” Weaver said. “But they jumped offsides. Then the second kick was a direct kick to me. It bounced off my helmet and I took my time to pick it up. And when I picked it up, I analyzed the field and seen three opponents coming, so I did some moves to get around the first few guys and take it down by our sideline.”
Weaver made sure to recognize that the 2022 season’s most significant play in the Treasure Coast was not just his own doing.
“Thanks to my teammates for great blocking,” Weaver said. “They led so many ways for me to cut through and have openings. And when I seen that opening, I took it. And from there, it was history as the clock hit zero. I gave everyone the hope that they needed.”
Martin County head coach Rod Harris chimed in on Weaver’s amazing special teams play.
“That return will go down in Martin County folklore,” Harris said. “I have never been on a field for that turn of events. Jensen Beach scored and got the two-point play to go up 22-21 with 6.3 seconds left. You’re talking Auburn return vs. Bama, Cal beating Stanford with band on the field. You throw in the fact it’s a rivalry game. The student section at Jensen Beach was at the gate to storm the field. We could replay that 1,000 times and lose 999 times, but not that Thursday night.”
Connolly spoke on Weaver’s senior season as a whole for Martin County.
“i think Ricardo had an amazing season,” Connolly said. “He was a top contributor in all facets of the game.”
Weaver recapped his senior season as well.
“Well I can say at first I didn’t know how it would be after losing a whole lot of seniors and starting new with a whole bunch of freshman and sophomores,” said Weaver, who now has college scholarship offers from Aces Elite Academy, Heidelberg, Trine, and Webber.
“But after we played our first game vs. Bartow and beat them (35-7 win in Week 1), I realized this can be one of those seasons we started winning and then middle of the season we lost players and coaches,” Weaver continued. “And I realized I had to be more of a player for us to win no matter if it was offensively or special teams or vocally on the field. So what I can say about my senior season is that it was something you see on a TV show or movie with how many up and downs we had.”
PHOTO CREDITS: July Sanchez
VIDEO CREDITS: Ricardo Weaver Sr.
