Morrow Evans’ first play as a long snapper came with Ohio State guard Donovan Jackson by his side.

Evans, then a freshman at Episcopal High School in Bellaire, Texas, outside of Houston, remembers lining up for a play next to Jackson, then a five-star senior, and two other Division I-bound offensive linemen.

“And they looked at me… they were like, ‘Don’t mess up,’ ” Evans said. “‘We can’t afford for you to mess up.’”

Evans didn’t mess up. He snapped perfectly. But he said he knew the stakes. And they made him incredibly nervous.

Now those same stakes don’t scare Evans. Looking back at his three full seasons as a starting long snapper, one that earned him a spot in Ohio State’s 2024 class as a preferred walk-on, Evans has seen countless opportunities to face that same pressure, situations he now thrives in.

“My mindset, when I get down and get set, it’s really just a 15-yard snap no matter what,” Evans said. “I’ve kind of homed in on staying calm under pressure in the past couple years.”

Why Morrow Evans became a long snapper

Evans’ long-snapping career was born out of boredom.

Finishing up his eighth-grade year at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Evans had time on his hands. He was also a football player who lined up at multiple offensive and defensive line positions and was looking for a way to make an instant impact on Episcopal’s varsity team as a freshman, while also knowing he would not fill into the frame of a typical five-star offensive tackle.

“They really needed a long snapper,” Evans remembered.

After his remote learning sessions, Evans went into the backyard and began snapping, attempting to learn intricacies and techniques from YouTube videos and countless repetitions.

“I’m like a perfectionist,” Evans said. “So starting off being not as good as the professional guys as I was watching on YouTube, I was kind of hard on myself. I overworked myself in the beginning. Got a couple of small injuries. I really took a step back and was like, ‘I need to work smarter, not harder.’ ”

As Evans worked – filming each snapping session and watching himself to ensure no bad habits were setting in – Morrow Evans Sr. watched with pride.

“The amount of preparation I had seen him put in, I knew there was nobody else in the school that was going to be as good as him,” Evans Sr. said. “It’s such a specialty. You spend that many hours a day, you know, it's like a pitcher or something. He put the work in. Was I nervous? Yes. Did I have confidence that he was going to do great? Yes.”

But Episcopal football coach Steve Leisz didn’t know who Morrow Evans Jr. was initially.

Evans was just a freshman team member who stayed after practice and snapped the ball into a light pole when the varsity team took the practice field. Eventually, Evans made the varsity squad himself, and Leisz said he helped the long snapper find his rhythm.

Leisz called it building Evans' “Sunday snap,” one in which the speed and location of each ball are perfect each time, one that might put him on a trajectory to be an NFL long-snapper one day.

“You've got to be a guy that is confident and knows what he’s doing,” Leisz said. “And knows, ‘Every time that I do this, I’m going to do it right.’ ”

What took Morrow Evans to Ohio State

Evans worked with Episcopal’s recruiting coordinator to see which schools needed a long snapper. The No. 2 long snapper in the 2024 class according to Rubio Long Snapping, he received a scholarship offer from Mississippi.

And while Ohio State was on Evans’ list, he didn't connect with the Buckeyes until the spring before his junior season.

Evans was just wrapping up a visit at Indiana when Ohio State program assistant Gunner Daniel reached out to invite him to a practice. Evans and his father rearranged their travel plans and headed to Columbus the next day, meeting Daniel and special teams coordinator Parker Fleming for the first time.

“That’s when I fell in love,” Evans said.

Evans returned for a specialists camp at Ohio State the summer before his senior year, working one-on-one with Fleming and Daniel, who Morrow Evans Sr. said challenged his son.

“I’m confident that the coaches were trying to push him and see when he would bend and break," Morrow Evans Sr. said. "The coaches were super supportive and very complimentary. You are there for that many hours, you know, it’s not just football. It’s building relationships. Morrow really enjoyed all of the coaches and getting to know them. That kind of started the familiarity of OK, this isn’t just a ‘Hi, good to see you. Bye.’ It was much more in-depth.”

Morrow Evans Jr. valued not just the relationships that were forming, but also what Ohio State could do to help him reach his ultimate goal.

“My dream is to go to the NFL,” he said. “And it was by far the best opportunity for me with just experience and being able to snap in front of big crowds.”

Ohio State added a scholarship long snapper in the spring of 2023 in Arizona State transfer John Ferlmann who has eligibility through the 2025 season.

Evans announced his commitment to the Buckeyes on Aug. 12.

“To be on the big stage, I mean, that’s really all you can ask for,” Evans said.

Morrow Evans Jr. is still working, getting stronger with his legs, meticulously analyzing each snap to be as consistent and accurate as possible on a 15-yard strip of turf in the backyard or on his high school field.

Morrow Evans Sr. is proud of his son. But he knows the Ohio State commit is just getting started.

“It’s, you know, step one. I mean, we’re in the first inning,” Morrow Evans Sr. said. “There’s a lot of things to get done before you can call it success. But for the amount of work he put into it, super proud. It’s a life lesson that if there’s something you really want in life, you got to put the work in.”

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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: How Morrow Evans joined Ohio State 2024 recruiting class