Brandywine senior Marty Ward will continue his academic and athletic career at Tiffin University in Ohio.

Ward signed a national letter of intent Tuesday to play football at Tiffin.

Ward is the Bobcats’ all-time leading rusher with over 2,800 career yards.

He is also a member of a senior class that helped revive Brandywine football.

Over the course of four years, Ward and his classmates helped turn a program that had just three winning seasons from 2000 to 2010, into one that qualified for the state playoffs three consecutive seasons and won 28 games in four years.

“Marty is a good kid,” Brandywine coach Mike Nate said. “The records that he has here speak volumes for what he has done for the program. I think he is making a good choice. I think he will play as a freshman. I think he will do well.”

Playing his first year is one of the reasons why Ward picked Tiffin. But he was a little apprehensive when he first arrived in Ohio.

“I really wasn’t too sure when I first went to the campus,” he said. “As soon as I started looking around campus and at the city, I really loved it. It has a really nice small-town feel to it. I feel at home there.

Ward looked at a few Division 3 schools as well as Eastern Michigan University and Michigan State University.

“They have a great coaching staff,” Ward said about Tiffin. “Their running backs coach is a really nice guy. He will be the kind of guy who will look out for you and make sure you are going in the right direction.”

Ward is proud of what he and his classmates have achieved.

“We had a great time together,” he said. “We became brothers. The time I spent here was great.”