WESTWOOD — Westwood is clearly the new spot for lengthy snappers.
Xaverian’s Andrew Dufault has change into one of many premier lengthy snappers within the nation and just lately dedicated to proceed his craft at Penn State. Less than two miles down the street, Westwood’s Joe Vinci is a late bloomer to the artwork of lengthy snapping, however has change into so good at it that he’s drawn curiosity from a number of Power 5 faculties.
Not surprisingly, each of them obtained their indoctrination to lengthy snapping from the Crabtrees. Bill Crabtree is a longtime coach with Mass. Elite Football, whereas his son Kevin Crabtree performed at Milton Academy earlier than occurring to Villanova, the place he served because the group’s lengthy snapper.
“I went to play for coach (Bill) Crabtree’s Mass. Elite team back in the seventh grade, but I was about 5-foot-2 at the time and he said I was too small to play guard,” Dufault mentioned. “He told me the only way I could play was to long snap. When the season came around, I would stay after practice with my dad (Mike) and work on it in hopes I could make the team.”
Vinci didn’t begin lengthy snapping till his sophomore 12 months in highschool. It was not precisely a case of affection at first snap for the 6-foot-4, 220-pounder.
“It started with Kevin Crabtree and his dad Bill, who coached my father (Joe) in Pop Warner,” mentioned Vinci, who has drawn curiosity from a number of of the Power 5 colleges, together with Boston College, who has provided him. “They sent a text to my dad saying I should try long snapping. I did it for two games and got taken out and was only doing short snaps. I heard about an opportunity in the winter, gave it a shot, kept working at it every day and getting better.”
Vinci grew to become so proficient in lengthy snapping in such a brief time period that he went to a New Jersey camp in December 2022 and wound up profitable the title. He then went to the Chris Rubio Long Snapping Camp in Los Angeles and emerged as one of many prime 5 highschool lengthy snappers within the nation (together with Dufault).
“Joe’s success is due strictly to his work ethic,” Westwood coach Brad Pindel mentioned. “He’s very religious about getting his reps in, he’s always out there getting teammates to come work out with him. Joe just really this was something he was good at and just kept working to get better and that’s why he’s ranked where he is.”
Much like Vinci, Dufault has put in additional than his share of time perfecting his craft. Al Fornaro has spent greater than three a long time teaching at Xaverian, the final six as head coach. He is fast to declare that Dufault is the most effective lengthy snapper the varsity has ever had.
“The things that really jump out are the accuracy and the speed in which Andrew is getting the ball back,” Fornaro mentioned. “When (former NFL tight end) Don Hasselbeck returned to join our coaching staff last year, the first time he saw Andrew snapping he told me, ‘I know I’ve been out of the game for a long time, but he’s better than a lot of guys we have in the pros.’ We put a clock on him, he’s very fast and very accurate – he’s just phenomenal.”
The 6-foot-2, 250-pound Dufault has obtained his share of Division 1 faculty curiosity over the previous two seasons. He just lately ended the recruitment course of when he gave a verbal dedication to Penn State.
“They had a long snapper (Chris Stoll) who just signed with the Seattle Seahawks and they said he and I are pretty similar,” Dufault mentioned. “To be able to long snap there, you have to be consistent and mentally tough because there are going to be big crowds. You just have to dial in and put the ball in the perfect spot.”
Something Andrew Dufault and Joe Vinci are doing in addition to any excessive schoolers within the nation.
Source: www.bostonherald.com