Apopka long snapper Martinez commits to UCF
When Lawrence Martinez was playing AAU football for the Apopka Raptors in eighth grade, his team needed someone to snap the football to the punter. Several players tried, but no one had the right distance on the snap.
So Martinez tried. He had the distance, and although it wasn’t perfect, a long snapper was born. Fast-forward four years and Martinez has nearly turned his skill into a college football scholarship.
Friday, the 6-foot-1, 215-pound Martinez committed to play for UCF, where he will enter college as a preferred walk-on with the understanding that if he wins the starting job, he’ll gain a scholarship in the future.
“[Special-teams coordinator Nick Toth] said he’ll redshirt me the first year and then I’ll have to win the job the next year,” Martinez said. “I’m pumped. I’m excited for the season. I can’t wait.
“I’ve been watching [UCF]. I have family who are really big fans of UCF. So when coach Toth contacted me, that just made me really happy.”
Martinez says he initially taught himself how to be a long snapper and his interest in the position stems directly from that day with the Apopka Raptors in 2015. He was playing offensive line at Apopka High but eventually he focused solely on long-snapping.
Martinez, a left-handed snapper, also attributes some of his current technique to working with Adam Tanalski of Hammer Kicking Academy and Nick Lundy of Fourth Down University.
“Nobody is perfect, so I’m always trying to perfect my form,” Martinez said. “I’m left-handed and there are not a lot of left-handed snappers. Usually left-handed snappers have a tilt to their snap, where the ball comes at you a little sideways. Fortunately for me, that doesn’t happen. Not sure why, but it doesn’t.”
He says long-snapping is a position not a lot of people even think about until there is a bad snap or a situation that causes anything other than a fluid punt or a made field goal.
“[It’s a position] probably not worried about too much, but I feel like it can win or lose you games,” Martinez said.
He had a great senior season as a member of an Apopka team that advanced all the way to the Class 8A state championship, where the Darters lost to Miami Columbus.
“It was really exciting going to the state championship and having the season we had. It would have been better to finish it how we wanted to, but you learn from anything,” he said.
Martinez has a 4.24 weighted GPA and is focused on life beyond football.
“I think [UCF] likes my character. Football is second and the person you are is first,” Martinez said.
Sparrow picks WVU
Orlando Jones High running back Avarius Sparrow, who had trouble gaining much recruiting attention despite rushing for more than 3,200 yards during the past two seasons, jumped at his first big-time offer Friday.
He committed to West Virginia during a visit to the school, posting the decision on his Twitter account.
Sparrow, who was slated to visit UCF next weekend, the final visit weekend for the 2020 recruiting cycle, decided to go ahead and pledge to the Mountaineers. The status of his UCF visit is now unclear.
His first spring at Jones, when he was a sophomore, he came out as a linebacker until head coach Elijah Williams noticed him playing catch with teammates before practice. Williams said Sparrow was a natural with the ball in his hands and was a good pass catcher. He was also extremely fast and could make great cuts.
Williams often says if Sparrow gets through the first level, no one is going to catch the 5-foot-10, 190-pound running back.
The coach moved Sparrow to the other side of the football and he flourished. He went from a virtual unknown to a key offensive leader for the Tigers during his junior season. He carried a good portion of the offensive load this past season, helping Jones reach the Class 5A state championship game. He had several games during which he carried the ball more than 30 times and he is very durable.
As a senior, Sparrow had 240 carries for 2,135 yards and 26 touchdowns.
“He’s a very important piece to our football team and I think what makes it more astonishing is that he never played football before. This is his second year of playing football,” Williams said. “He’s everything for us. I’ve always been a pass-first guy, but our strength was Sparrow.”