By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Lopez looked sharp on both sides of the ball against PSJA Memorial and showed how much it has improved since last season.
The Lobos scored on four straight possessions in the first half and never looked back in the 44-0 shutout of the Wolverines in a non-district game Thursday night in Week 3 at Sams Memorial Stadium.
The Lopez defense did its job, Lorenzo Uresti picked off a pass on the PSJA Memorial’s opening drive and the unit set the tone for the shutout. The Lobos’ defense forced seven punts and getting three turnover on downs over the course of the game and allowed just 142 yards of offense.
“They were lights out,” Lopez coach Jason Starkey said. “I’m very proud of our defensive coordinator (Hugo Ramirez) and our entire defensive staff, they’ve really done an amazing job, it’s no secret we lost our DC (in the offseason). They rallied around these kids and have inspired them … I’m very proud of our defense getting a zero on the board.”
Lopez running back Ivan Olivo led the offensive surge with two rushing touchdowns — one in each half — and finished with 84 yards on 12 carries as Lopez racked up 414 yards of total offense, including 226 on the ground.
“We came out and executed,” Olivio said. “The line had a pretty good game. They had that confidence from the last game. We need that confidence to keep going. Whether we lose or win, we have to be confident. But we left no doubt on the field and we’re going to keep going and every game give it our everything.”
Lopez fumbled on its first offensive possession, but regrouped quickly. The Lobos got on the board first when junior quarterback Alex Ramirez hit junior JD Diaz on a 47-yard catch and run for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 7:38 left in the first quarter.
After a PSJA Memorial (0-3) punt, Jose Echavarria, typically a receiver, found fellow junior receiver Johnny Ibarra on a 70-yard bomb down the sideline for another touchdown and a 13-0 advantage just a minute and a half later.
Lopez (2-1) kept it going on the next drive as Olivo found the end zone after a 5-yard run seconds into the second quarter. Later, Echavarria kicked a 35-yard field goal to put the Lobos up 23-0, a lead they took into the break.
The Wolverines just didn’t get the chains moving and punted on four straight possessions in the first half.
“We’ve had a tough start, but the reality is we have to keep working and keep improving,” PSJA Memorial coach Mike Uribe said. “We have to keep building every single week, find out what type of character we have.”
Lopez continued its momentum in the second half.
Ramirez hit Echavarria on a 27-yard pass play with 4:36 on the clock in the third quarter. And under a minute to play in the third, Olivo scored his second touchdown, a 16-yard burst around the left end to make it 37-0.
Lopez added another score early in the fourth quarter as junior running back Angel Sandate took a handoff 57 yards to the end zone.
The Wolverines get a bye before starting district play. Uribe said his team is hurting themselves at times.
“We knew it was going to be a tough task,” he said. “Lopez is a good football team, a well-coached team. This is something that hasn’t happened overnight (for them). We have to control things we can control. Obviously minimize our mistakes, a lot of our mistakes are costing us big.”
Starkey was proud of his team, but he said district would be the real test.
“It was a total team effort (Thursday),” he said. “Our record is now 0-0. We play, in my opinion, one of the two toughest districts in this entire RGV and we have our work cut out for us in two weeks with Porter. We can’t take a day off. We’ve struggled with following success with greater success; we’re trying to beat yesterday.
“I’m looking forward to district, but we still have a lot work to do … hopefully we can have some success in district play.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter, he’s @andrewmcrum.