Growing up in the small town of Valley Center California trying to make a name for himself playing as a young kid Lawrence was curious and thought he might be good so at the age of 4 started playing baseball and at 9 tried out for the pop warner football team " it was just something I thought I could be decent at and I just liked watching it on TV so I wanted to try it" said Lawrence in a recent interview.

Lawrence since then has come a long way in playing sports such as baseball, football and even basketball.
Experience in pop warner was a major plus for Justin "In pop warner I always had to play with the kids who were 2-3 years older than I was because I was a big kid, so I think I learned toughness from pop warner along with discipline". Lawrence now a 16 year old sophomore attending Valley Center High School and playing on both varsity baseball as a pitcher and center fielder and football as a linebacker and running back is only getting better year after year.

His size 6-0, 190 and athleticism has been a blessing for him making him able to play on varsity with the big boys.
Justin just like a lot of other players had to work his way up after finishing pop warner instead of trying out for junior varsity Lawrence made a very smart decision and played his first high school football season on the freshman football team. As a freshman Justin played the role as the leader on the team winning the quarterback job and in his very first game taking a quarterback sneak 50+ yards to the house in a end route to a 12-0 victory. When not throwing the football he was running using all his tools to do what ever he could to get his Valley Center Jaguars the victory.

After having a solid season as a freshman the varsity coaches saw the heart, desire and skills that helped make the decision to bring Justin up to the Varsity level as just a sophomore. Working nearly year round in Valley Center's football conditioning program Justin found him self playing as running back and with his size has become a talented bruising runner that is not afraid to run you over, while his 4.8 speed may not be the fastest on the team the speed for his size is out standing. Not only does he play running back but as well he plays on defense as a inside linebacker, safety and even defensive end when needed "my most memorable moment from high school was playing La Jolla the first game of the season, played pretty solid at inside linebacker".

His nickname the diesel suites him well as he is always going going, going with great versitility being able to play what ever postion he is needed at not just in football but in baseball as a pitcher, a good one at that. Lawrence pitched a 7 inning shut out against Ramona last year as a sophomore and his future in both baseball and football looks bright as a junior. Watching him last season he had a very good first year on varsity as a short yardage back rushing hard for 6 touchdowns and for many more first downs.

When I asked him what his expectations for this next season were he said "my expectations this year is to help the team win in as many ways as possible, rushing for a lot to keep pressure of Tyler Bernard at QB and then having a productive season on defense".

Not sure really who to compare him to but its best to let him do the talking and back it up on the field this coming season something he will be very good at "I don't like comparing myself to other people especially ones who have made it in the pros, so id rather just let my actions on the field speaks and let people compare on there own".

Look for Valley Center Varsity football and running back Justin Lawrence to put up a huge year on the field this coming season, good luck guys!

Written by Michael A. Phillips
7/7/07