Versatile football athlete showcasing dominance in Cape Coral

The bright Friday night lights are shining in Southwest Florida, and one football athlete in Cape Coral is making plays all over the field.

His name is Justin Lewis, and he’s a senior at Mariner High School in Cape Coral.

Lewis is catching eyes while dominating the football field on offense, defense and special teams.

“I play receiver, safety, kick return, punt return, anything, quarterback,” said Lewis.

Lewis’ positionless playmaking ability was showcased on Thursday when he threw a touchdown against DeSoto County, eventually winning the game. Lewis kept up the impressive performance when he scored on defense, returning an 80-yard pick-six to the endzone.

“Our coaches put us in good positions. He told me that all week in practice, I’m going to get that pick-six, and it just happened,” Lewis said.

When you watch Lewis make plays all over the field, you’d think he’s been playing football his whole life. On the contrary, Lewis didn’t start playing football until his freshman year at Mariner.

Lewis was primarily focused on basketball back then. But the Mariners football coach, Josh Nicholson, saw something special in Lewis and recruited him to the football team.

“I sold it to him as come out, have fun with your friends. It’s your freshman year. If you hate it, never do it again,” said Nicholson.

“I had to get real crisp at running my routes. Because I came from nothing. I didn’t know how to run any type of route but a go route,” said Lewis.

Lewis learned quickly and made big plays on junior varsity and fell in love with football. It’s tough to beat the way a crowd can erupt during a Friday night game.

Lewis’s dream is to play football and basketball in college.