Imagine playing a football game three days after the death of a loved one due to Tropical Storm Harvey.

Kam Martin did that, and his aunt Sarah Henry would be proud.

The 2016 Port Arthur Memorial graduate rushed 14 times for 136 yards, including a 36-yard touchdown run in which he went untouched, Saturday as Auburn beat Georgia Southern 41-7 at home.

Auburn Undercover, a fan website, reported that Henry, 59, died after being trapped in her house surrounded by 3 feet of water and was unable to make it to her weekly dialysis appointments.

“We couldn’t get to her; I tried to walk to her house,” Martin’s father Howard Harris said to Auburn Undercover. “I couldn’t really do nothing, but I was going to check on her son and put an eye on her right quick. The water was so high the pressure I couldn’t walk and had to turn around. The coroner finally got over there in a dump truck to come bring them over there and get the body out of the house.”

Martin encouraged his family to come to Auburn for his game despite the destruction Harvey wreaked on Port Arthur, according to the website. The family was trapped inside their home without electricity.

His mother Marion Harris told Auburn Undercover she changed her mind about not coming when she saw how so many were displaced “walking around with just nothing.”

Martin saw action as the No. 2 back behind Kerryon Johnson, who also rushed for 136 yards Saturday.

Martin played in 10 games as a true freshman and finished with 320 yards on 44 carries. His career high is 176 yards, all in the second half, against Alabama A&M.

But Saturday’s game was a little more special. And his family got to see it in person.

They’ve never missed a game of his since he played Pop Warner football, the website reported.

“Kam did it for Port Arthur,” Howard Harris told Auburn Undercover. “It lifted people up.”
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I.C. Murrell: 549-8541. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews