Kam Martin ran 14 times for 136 yards and a touchdown in Auburn’s season opening victory against Georgia Southern, his second career 100-yard game in college.

Three other times this year, he ran for 50 or more yards.

“That was one of the main reasons I chose to come to Auburn,” the 2016 Port Arthur Memorial graduate said, “to play in the top games against the top teams.”

The decision paid off. His 429 rushing yards this season is second on the SEC West Division champion Tigers (10-3) only to Associated Press All-American Kerryon Johnson. And if Johnson, a junior, decides to go pro after Auburn’s Jan. 1 Peach Bowl vs. Central Florida (12-0) in Atlanta, Martin can be presumed as the top running back for 2018.

“Kerryon is a great person on and off the field,” Martin said. “He’s an upperclassman. He’s a role model. That’s my roommate.”

Martin embraces the chance to room with a 1,320-yard rusher who many considered a Heisman Trophy contender before the finalists were named late November. But two years after he was Memorial’s feature running back inching closer to Jamaal Charles’ Port Arthur ISD rushing record, Martin made the most of another big break to catch the nation’s attention.

He also had to do it amid tragedy hundreds of miles away in Port Arthur.

In the wake of the destruction Tropical Storm Harvey left behind, Martin’s aunt, Sarah Henry died after being trapped in her house surrounded by floodwater. Auburn Undercover, a fan website, reported Henry, who was 59, was unable to make it to her weekly dialysis appointments.

“My mom called me and let me know they were all right,” Martin said. “I just had to do it up for the city.”

Sept. 2 came around, three days after the flood from Harvey crested in Port Arthur. The Tigers opened the season hosting Sun Belt Conference member Georgia Southern. Johnson, like Martin, had 136 yards against the former Football Championship Subdivision powerhouse, but he was hurt during the second quarter. Kamryn Pettway, Auburn’s leading rusher in 2016, was suspended for the game, leaving the 5-foot-10, 182-pound Martin to carry the load. Media personnel surrounded Martin after the game as he was wearing a gray shirt that read “Texas Tough” on the front.

“I just had to fight through all the adversity,” Martin told The News. “I had to do it for the city.”

And his family, despite the difficulties Harvey imposed, still journeyed to eastern Alabama to watch him play.

Martin achieved his first 100-yard game racking up all his yardage in the second half. He had 176 yards and two touchdowns against Alabama A&M of the Southwestern Athletic Conference on Nov. 19, 2016, and with that performance, Martin set a school record for the best second-half rushing total and ranked fifth among freshmen all-time for a single-game total.

Martin has only recorded rushing yards in nine of the Tigers’ 13 games, but he’s been patient working behind Johnson all season.

“You just have to embrace your role,” Martin said. “Whenever they throw me in, I just do my job.”

The Peach Bowl, one of the New Year’s Six games under the College Football Playoff format, has seen a team from the American Athletic Conference take down a national power before. Two years ago, Memorial alumnus Elandon Roberts keyed Houston’s defensive effort in a stunning upset of Florida State. UCF will have coach Scott Frost on the sideline one last time, keeping together a staff that led the Knights to an unbeaten regular season and double-overtime AAC title win over Memphis before Frost heads to alma mater Nebraska.

UCF is also known for its 2013-14 Fiesta Bowl win over Baylor that catapulted now-Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles into national prominence. Martin had originally signed with Baylor, but was released from his letter of intent following a sexual assault scandal that roiled the campus and its football program and led to the firing of coach Art Briles.

“We just have to play SEC football, do what Auburn do,” Martin said. “Be physical, run the football, do what it takes to win.”

Martin is used to that. As he winds down his second collegiate season in Atlanta, with a division title and Iron Bowl win over national semifinalist Alabama in tow and the prospect of only the school’s seventh 11-win season in its 115-year football history, Martin finds life at Auburn a little peachy.

Even if he’s not the big man on campus.

“Everybody knows my time is coming,” he said. “I just know I have a good running back in front of me. I just have to be patient.”

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I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews