By ANDREW CRUM | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
After a breakout year last season, Jose Echavarria was expected to do even more for Lopez this season.
He certainly didn’t disappoint. Moving from a primary receiver to running back he reached the 1,000-yard plateau and scored eight touchdowns and also had 14 catches for 109 yards while leading the Lobos to an 8-3 record and a postseason berth for the second consecutive season for just the third time in school history and first since 2005-06.
But Echavarria did even more for Lopez as the team’s punter, as a return specialist and played defense at times. The senior stood out in a few games in particular, in a 54-10 rout of Donna North in a District 32-5A game, Echavarria scored a pair of first quarter touchdowns to spark the offense and finished with 168 yards on the ground. Playing defense against Edcouch-Elsa in a crucial district game, he returned a fumble 89 yards for a touchdown that changed the momentum of the game and the 23-14 win sealed another postseason berth for the Lobos.
His diversity was rewarded with all-district honors in District 32-5A for punter (first-team) and return specialist (second-team) and was the co-offensive player of the year.
The senior has earned another accolade; Echavarria has been named The Brownsville Herald’s 2017 All-Metro All-Purpose Player of the Year.
“It means a lot to me because it makes me see that I actually helped my team to win games,” he said.
Even though the senior went on to have a great season, Echavarria was hesitant about moving to the backfield.
“I didn’t really want to play running back,” he said.
His receivers coach thought that it would be a good fit and one day during early practices there were no running backs present. Echavarria was moved into position and the coaches were happy with his progress.
“We knew we wanted to get the ball in his hands more,” Lopez coach Jason Starkey said. “We weren’t comfortable only doing that from the receiver position … it led to us putting him in the backfield as a trial and error. It evolved into the offense because of what he could do.
“The goal was to get him the ball a little more with the opportunity to be effective.”
As Echavarria thrived, so did the team, starting the season 6-0, including 3-0 in district. After tough losses to Brownsville Veterans Memorial and Mercedes, the Lobos bounced back with wins over Edcouch-Elsa and Pace. Despite a first-round loss to Mission Veterans Memorial, Lopez is heading in the right direction as a program.
“It’s a tribute to a senior class that bought into what we’re preaching for the last four years and as a result won eight games … the second best season in school history,” Starkey said. “We’re continuing to head into the direction where we want to go. It’s an honor to have a superlative for this program. I think it’s representative of the hard work and dedication of our coaching staff and our student-athletes.”
While Echavarria made a big impact offensively, his effect on special teams and occasionally defensively sometimes made the greatest difference in games.
“In my opinion, great players make big plays in big games,” Starkey said. “He always came up with big plays when it mattered most. He did a lot for us in all facets and I’m grateful that he’s getting recognized for his hard work.”
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.