PREP WEDNESDAY : Hiking the Ball Proves Anything but a Snap : Football: Special teams with erratic long snappers sometimes lose games because of missed kicks and muffed punts.

Although often overlooked and ignored, few football players on special teams feel as much pressure to execute their assignments properly as those who snap the ball for field goals, extra points and punts.

While punters and kickers are praised for their feats, the snappers generally toil in obscurity despite being an integral part of a successful effort.

But their work, rarely noticed by the average fan, is not taken for granted by coaches.

“Obviously, if you have a great kicker, they (the snappers) make all the difference in the world. That’s a real weapon,” Esperanza Coach Gary Meek said. “Punting-wise, a miscue can change the complexion of a game almost immediately.”

Coach Jim Howell, now in his 14th season at Western, agrees.

“If you don’t have a good long snapper, it doesn’t make a difference what kind of punter you have,” he said. “You realize how valuable a good long snapper is when you don’t have one.”

A glance at high school games’ statistical summaries is proof enough--a harsh reminder that schools with poor special teams, especially erratic snappers, generally struggle and sometimes lose because of missed kicks and muffed punts.

Meek and Howell don’t have such problems. They are fortunate to have two reliable snappers on each of their rosters, one for short snaps on field-goal and extra-point attempts, and the other for long snaps on punts.

At Esperanza, Brad Wise, a senior wide receiver and cornerback, is the long snapper, and Mike Clark, a junior wing back, the short.

The two have been instrumental in helping the Aztecs, the county’s top-rated team, remain unbeaten in seven games. And Clark has contributed to another streak, snapping with precision for kicker Yancy Knox, who has converted 36 consecutive extra points this season.

Their near-flawless execution is not because of luck. Esperanza’s kicking and punting units hone their skills every day before and after practice. It helps the snappers sharpen their technique, but doesn’t keep them from worrying during a game.

“The first thing that goes through my mind is that if I snap it over his (punter’s) head, I’m a goner,” said Wise, who has a team-leading 17 receptions for 291 yards. “I say a little prayer before every snap. After every kick, I always ask the punter how the snap was, but I can usually tell if I did it right.”

Wise, the team’s long snapper since the middle of last season, is overstating his potential demotion because of a bad snap. But Kris Van Hook, Calvary Chapel coach and a former snapper at Costa Mesa and Magnolia high schools and Cypress College, says the fears are real.

“People just assume (snapping) is automatic,” said Van Hook, who tutored snappers as an assistant coach at Cerritos College a few years ago. “They don’t know how much pressure there is.”

Van Hook felt the heat many times during his playing days but said he failed to make manageable snaps only twice in college--his first one as a freshman and his last one as a senior.

Now, another family member plays the position. Matt Van Hook, a junior center for Calvary Chapel, followed his father’s footsteps and is doing an effective job. His snaps are part of the reason the Eagles’ punter, Danny Sundquist, averages 40.6 yards. Kris Van Hook said he and Matt work regularly on the intricacies of snapping.

“In terms of technique, we spend a lot of time on it,” Kris Van Hook said. “It’s something we don’t neglect.”

At Western, where tight ends Carlos Saldana and Phil Hurt are the long and short snappers, the issue is not taken lightly, either. Howell said the Pioneers devote a portion of their daily practices to that task, and the drills are yielding positive results. Western punter and kicker Jason Covarrubias is four for four in field-goal attempts and has made 13 of 14 extra points, including eight in a row.

Like their counterparts at Esperanza, the Western snappers were selected for the chore because they fit a specific profile. What the coaches at both schools look for in a snapper might not be the same, but the blueprints have similarities.

“We kind of identify our snappers during spring practice and work with them in the summer,” Meek said. “We try to have someone who’s athletic for the punts. If you can find someone who’s 175 to 180 pounds, who has good hands and who can run and cover, that’s great.

“He also has to have strong hands. That’s why quarterbacks and receivers make good snappers.”

Howell, who entrusted the snapping duties to tight ends, subscribes to that theory.

“I think the main thing is wrist snap,” Howell said. “You have to have big, strong wrists.”

Some coaches, however, recruit their snappers wherever they can find them.

Mark Miller, coach of third-ranked Rancho Alamitos, said he used to have tryouts for long snappers every week during the season. But then Miller stumbled upon Adam Maldonado, now a junior, and his troubles ended.

“We’re pretty lucky right now,” Miller said. “(Maldonado) will probably be Rancho’s first four-year letterman. When we went to CIF (Southern Section playoffs) a couple of years ago, I saw him on the freshman team. I said, ‘Hey, how old are you?’ We picked him up.”

Clark, in his first season with Esperanza’s varsity, also started snapping as a freshman. He tries not to think about making bad snaps, instead taking a simple approach on the field.

“My job is to get it back to them (holder and kicker),” Clark said. “After that, it’s out of my hands.”

And onto someone else’s foot.