Lettering in academics and athletics

Lawrence students sign national letters of intent

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The culmination of hard work in the classroom and on the athletic field was joined together as three Lawrence High School seniors signed their national letters of intent to attend and play football at three Division I colleges.

Tyler Fredericks, Islam Mohamed and Eddie Robinson, who all played vital roles on the Golden Tornadoes undefeated Rutgers Cup and Long Island Class III championship team in 2012, gathered with their mothers and coach in the superintendent’s conference room at Lawrence Middle School on Feb. 6, national signing day.

With their moms standing by them, all wrote their signatures on the letters under the watchful eye of head football coach Joe Martilotti, who ensured the accurate signing time was recorded on each document.

“I follow the rules, I want to make sure we follow the regulations,” Martilotti said, referring to the NCAA, the governing body of collegiate sports. “The kids getting signed represents your program and is representative of me and my staff. It is what we do here and the core values at Lawrence.”

The students took the core values of excelling academically and working hard to heart earning scholarships based on grades as well as sports. Fredericks, who is planning to major in computers graphics and game development at Stony Brook, scored 66 touchdowns during his high school career, including 22 in 2012 despite missing one game. He rushed for 1, 567 yards on 149 carries last season.

“This is a once in a lifetime achievement and I am going to school for academics and a [football] program, where I can touch the ball a lot,” said Fredericks, adding that he hopes to not only fill the shoes of Stony Brook’s great runner Miguel Mayonset, who is graduating, but try to do more in all phases on offense.

Only playing football for three years, Mohamed is following in the footsteps of his older brother Karim, who earned a scholarship to Stony Brook. Mohamed, part of the line that blocked for an offense that averaged 50 points per game in 2012, is headed to Cornell and will attend their business school.

“It definitely means a lot,” he said. “I have been playing for only three years and excelling and getting to the next level is a great accomplishment.”

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