Shannon Litz/Nevada Appeal
John Eck, Rich Martillaro and Doug Taladay were three of the best football players in Carson High history, and that became validated Saturday night when the trio was inducted into the CHS Football Hall of Fame.
For the second consecutive year, the Hall of Fame dinner was held at Mo & Sluggo's, and again the evening was a smashing success. In fact, the dinner drew nearly 150 people more than it did in 2009.
All three honorees were received warmly when they were presented to family, friends, past coaches, former teammates and the 2010 Carson High Senator football squad.
The inductees were informed of their selection by football coach Blair Roman, and all three were overjoyed with the honor.
"It put a smile on my face," said the 35-year-old Taladay, who is a truck driver and still lives in Carson. "I told a bunch of family and friends.
"I didn't even know they were doing that," said Martillaro, who works as an attorney in Denver. "It's a great honor."
Eck, who graduated in 1988, was a three-sport athlete, playing football, basketball and baseball. He went on to play football at the University of San Diego.
Eck, who threw 21 touchdown passes his senior season, teamed with wide receivers Jim Reid and Carlos Mendeguia to lead Carson to an 8-3 record.
"We had a really good season," said Eck, who played for Paul Croghan. "We made it to the zone finals and played Wooster. We got beat pretty bad.
"We had a very good passing game. I'd just throw the ball up and Carlos and Jim would come down with it. Carlos was the most amazing receiver. Sometimes I think he was the only reason I was an all-state quarterback."
Mendeguia laughed when told of Eck's comments.
"He was a real competitor," Mendeguia said. "He was a great leader; led by example. He was the smartest kid in school. He was our valedictorian and such a good athlete.
"John was so smart and he really knew the offense. He had the ability to change plays at the line of scrimmage. Coach (Ferd) Mariani had that much confidence in John. He could see mismatches from watching the field. He didn't have the strongest arm, but he was very accurate."
Croghan agreed with Mendeguia.
"He was a very good leader; definitely in charge," Croghan said. "He ran the offense just like we wanted. He did a nice job for us.
"I remember a situation when we had called a play. Somehow John gave David Navarro a look or something. He threw a swing pass that gained a lot more yardage than the play we had called."
After Carson, Eck went to USD and played four years of ball, starting three of those years. He played running back.
Eck was trying to decide whether to be a football coach or a lawyer. He coached while attending law school.
"When I saw my grades from law school, I knew they were too good to drop out," Eck said.
Eck is currently an attorney in Santa Barbara. He's currently married (Angie) and the couple has 5-year-old twins. Eck has started coaching T-Ball.
Even though he's in a different state, Eck still keeps tabs on the goings on in Carson through his mom and by reading the Nevada Appeal online.
Martillaro was a two-way player, playing middle linebacker and running back or wide receiver. Like Eck, he was an all-state and all-league selection his senior season.
"He was a tough character," Croghan said. "We ran the Power I that year and he had a good year. Rich played fullback, and he was a really good blocker. He accounted for a lot of Woody Healy's yards. Woody rushed for 1,500 yards in 10 games. He had a couple of 200-yard games.
"He was just a great kid. He wasn't the biggest guy, but he had a lot of heart and always played with it."
Martillaro, however, could put up some big numbers of his own on occasion. His best game came against Sparks when he gained 175 yards and scored two touchdowns on nine carries. He also had an 80-yard TD reception against Hug.
"I liked scoring touchdowns better, even though I probably had more success on defense," Martillaro said. "We went 7-2 and made the playoffs. We lost to Reno in the first round of the playoffs."
The big game against Sparks wasn't his fondest moment, however. That came when Carson knocked off Reno for the first time in 16 years during the regular season.
The 44-year-old Martillaro is married (Judy) and has three daughters - Antonia (18), Malanna (14) and Isabella (11).
Taladay played for current CHS athletic director Bob Bateman. The 1994 team went 5-3, but missed the playoffs. Taladay played flyback and cornerback, and he also returned kicks and punts.
"He was a tough kid; worked hard," said Jim Franz, current CHS defensive coordinator, who was an assistant on Bateman's staff in 1994. "He played hard. He never came out of the game."
Franz said Taladay reminds him of current Carson star Dylan Sawyers, though he said that Taladay wasn't quite as fast as Sawyers.
Taladay's biggest moment happened during his senior year, and it happened on the present field at CHS. Up until then, Carson had played its games at Carson Middle School.
"They got the new field put down before my senior year," said Taladay, who was all-league and all-state as a senior. "We played Sparks, and coach Bateman wanted me to have a good game. I scored on a 50-yard run (early). It was the first varsity TD on the new field. Sparks had a turnover, and I scored another TD before halftime on a yo-yo sweep."
After graduating from Carson, Taladay went on to play at Butte College and College of the Siskiyous. He played in both the Dairy Bowl and the San Francisco Community College Bowl. He also helped coach the JV team for one year in the late 1990s.
On Saturday, Roman also announced the establishment of the Milan Tresnit Award. Tresnit worked as an educator in the Carson City School District and he eventually become assistant superintendent.
"He was a huge supporter of Carson athletics - football, basketball and baseball for close to 50 years," Roman said. "This is overdue.
"There are a lot of people out there who do a lot for youth and high school sports. It's great that we can recognize them for their efforts. It's a small way to give back."
Roman said that this year's recipient, which has already been selected, would be recognized at one of the home games this season.