Andrew Wells headed to Louisiana-Monroe football

BY Amanda Martilla

Andrew Wells carries the ball during a game last year as a running back for the Temescal Canyon High School Titans. Andrew is now headed to play college football at the University of Louisiana-Monroe this fall. Photo provided by Terri Edwards

After being the first Titan to letter all four years in varsity football at Temescal Canyon High School, Andrew Wells is on his way to Louisiana this summer to play for the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

The long-time Canyon Lake resident has earned several prestigious awards for his football play over the years, including top honors as a running back for his high school Titans. But, Andrew is an elite deep snapper, a position college football programs have deemed essential to their success. He will be the ULM deep snapper this fall.

Andrew not only earned a spot on the TCHS varsity team as a freshman, but was a starter for the entirety of his high school career. He was the Titan long snapper all four years, but he also earned starting positions as a defensive back and a running back.

In 2018, he was named the Varsity Special Teams Player of the Year and was selected to the Sunbelt League’s First Team All-League. His senior season the next year was a huge success. He was the Varsity Team Captain and was named to the Press-Enterprise All-Area First Team and the First Team All-League and received the TCHS Varsity Offensive Back of the Year Award. He was the leading rusher and scorer for the TCHS varsity football team.

His deep snapping was what got him onto the field first…and kept him there.

“Andrew has a very specialized skill set that enables him to deep snap the ball quickly and with impeccable accuracy,” Phil Cohen, Temescal Canyon’s varsity football coach, said. “This is a skill that every football team needs to be successful.”

Freshmen rarely see the playing field, let alone start. Andrew was given an opportunity four years ago when both the first and second string snappers went down with injuries. When the second string snapper was incapacitated, Coach Cohen turned to Andrew, the freshman, to take the field and snap.

“Andrew didn’t hesitate and ran onto the field,” Coach Cohen said. “He continued to snap both punts and extra points the remainder of the game without a hitch. It wasn’t until films the next morning when I noticed it was Andrew snapping the whole game. It was at that point I handed him the job for good.”

Andrew began playing flag football in kindergarten. After taking a short hiatus to earn his black belt in karate for his age group, he returned to the sport as a 4th grader. It was in 6th grade that he set the goal to play college football and then the NFL.

“In middle school, he literally only watched the NFL Channel on TV,” his mother Shannon Wells said. “While his dream is to play in the NFL, he is also realistic that a very small percentage of college athletes get the opportunity to play at that level.”

Andrew will continue to put in the hard work on and off the football field and is pursuing a degree in Kinesiology with a Sports Management focus. He wants to become a sports agent for specialists in a variety of professional sports or own a chain of warehouse gyms and train athletes, his father Doug Wells said.

His parents said Andrew has traveled across the United States for the past four years to college camps and training sessions, in order to compete and perfect his skills as a long snapper and football player.

“Andrew has become one of the top long snappers in the country,” Doug said. “Off the field, Andrew has excelled in the classroom, graduating with an overall GPA of 3.50. He has become a leader for the TCHS football program and has inspired the younger players to not only strive to be great on the field and in the weight room, but also in the classroom.”

Andrew also earned the TCHS Football Scholar-Athlete Excellence Award, which includes a $1,000 scholarship. He chose to donate his scholarship to the Kennedie June Von Ryan Foundation to support future student-athletes as they pursue their college dreams.

As Andrew moves on to Louisiana, where he will play in televised games most weekends or Thursday evenings, he will be “remembered as a player who set goals for himself and didn’t let anybody or anything keep him from achieving his best,” Coach Cohen said. “His work ethic and tenacity are examples for all future Titan football players”.

The Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks football program has a history dating back to 1931. ULM currently competes in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Sun Belt Conference.

Andrew Wells signs his Letter of Intent to play FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) football with the University of Louisiana-Monroe during a signing ceremony late last year at Temescal Canyon High School.