April was quite a month for Paloma alumnus Matt Orzech

Matt Orzech (84 and insert), shown here playing tight end at Azusa Pacific, will be a long snapper for the Baltimore Ravens. Photos courtesy Matt Orzech Facebook page

If every month turns out the way April 2019 did for Matt Orzech, he's going to lead a charmed life.

Orzech, who grew up playing baseball in Menifee Valley Little League and later starred in baseball and football at Paloma Valley High School, married his high school sweetheart, Destiny Ramirez, April 5. Just three weeks later, he signed a free agent contract with the Baltimore Ravens -- becoming the first Paloma Valley graduate ever to head to the NFL.

"You talk about a Cinderella story," said Bert Esposito, Orzech's head football coach at Paloma Valley and now head coach at Temecula Valley High. "And it couldn't happen to a better person."

It has been quite a week for football fans in Menifee. Last Friday, linebacker Sione Takitaki was drafted in the third round by the Cleveland Browns, becoming the first Heritage High alumnus ever drafted by the NFL. And just the next day, Orzech got his turn.

Although he wasn't drafted by an NFL team, Orzech knew he had a good chance to hook on with a team as a free agent. It didn't take long for the call to come by the end of the second day of the draft. The Ravens, one of three teams that had shown interest in signing the 6-foot-4, 245-pound player as a long snapper, snatched him up.

"Getting drafted is like winning the lottery, but there's still interest in a lot of other players," Orzech said in a phone interview on Tuesday. "I knew there would be opportunities for me. Three teams stayed in contact with me throughout the day. Two went different ways at the last minute, but right after the seventh round, the Ravens called."

Orzech is in Baltimore today for the Ravens' rookie mini camp. Then beginning May 12, he joins the full squad for workouts to compete for the starting long snapper job. He knows it will be a challenge competing for a starting job held by Morgan Cox, a 10-year veteran out of Tennessee.

"He's one of the better guys in the league," Orzech said about Cox, "but there's no better way to compete than against the best."

Orzech played football for the first time as a freshman at Paloma Valley in 2009. He developed into a dependable two-way player as a tight end and defensive lineman (left), and he eventually became the team's long snapper as well.

"Matt was one of the special ones," Esposito recalls. "You don't forget guys like that. He was fantastic on both sides of the ball, and he was a great person as well."

After playing for the Wildcats freshman team in 2009, Orzech joined the varsity in 2010. He didn't play football his junior year after suffering a serious injury during a 7-on-7 tournament game.

"Matt caught the ball but the defensive back got there at the same time and there was a collision," Esposito remembers. "Matt started having seizures. I remember thinking, 'There's no way I'm letting him play football anymore.' But he came back as a senior. I said, 'I don't know about this,' but I was assured he was fully recovered, and he had a great year."

Paloma Valley was just 2-3 in league play that year but was 7-3 overall in the regular season and made the playoffs. The Wildcats advanced to the third round of the playoffs before losing to Rancho Verde. Then it was time for Orzech to make his college choice. He had an opportunity to play football and baseball for Cal Baptist but chose Azusa Pacific University instead.

Recruited as a tight end by the Cougars, Orzech soon developed into the team's starting long snapper. By the middle of his senior season last fall, he noticed NFL scouts paying attention to him.

"Our special teams coordinator (Will Rodriguez) had worked with the Rams, and he said he thought I could make it as a long snapper," Orzech said. "I began to see the potential in it."

Orzech admits that long snapper is anything but a glamour position. Basically, he's the guy you don't notice as he crouches at center, snapping the football to the punter or to the holder on field goals.

"It's almost more important that people don't notice me," he said. "Long snapper is kind of unique in that it's a position where you have to be perfect. At other positions, you can drop a pass or miss a tackle and you get another chance. But in the NFL, I need to hit the punter in the strike zone with the snap. I need to help get us points on a field goal. If I don't, I'm fired."

That might seem like a pressure situation to some, but Esposito said that isn't the perspective a guy like Orzech has on the situation.

"He's right -- you don't make mistakes at that position or you're fired," Esposito said. "You want a guy who's not too emotional, who is disciplined and focused on his job. Matt is the perfect guy for that job. He's cool and collected."

So off he goes to NFL training camp, the first Paloma Valley graduate ever to do so. And the reality of it all is still sinking in.

"I got married in April (right) and I signed with an NFL team in April," Orzech said. "It's been quite a month."

Photo by Erica Noelle Photography