Doing the right thing By David Hall / Staff WriterPublished: Thursday, October 25, 2012 at 22:37 PM. AYDEN — When Ayden-Grifton’s football team visits Goldsboro today, a Carolina 1A Conference championship will once again be on the line.For Chargers nose tackle Alex Lopez, the stakes were raised long ago.Lopez, the senior anchor of Ayden-Grifton’s defense, was a self-described troublemaker early in his youth, prone to fisticuffs and a lack of focus that led to poor grades.When he decided to become an athlete in the seventh grade at the urging of his mother, football gave him something to lose.“If I couldn’t keep my grades up, I couldn’t play football,” Lopez said.“It’s kept me out of a lot of trouble. Doing the wrong thing, it takes a toll on your life. (Being an athlete) makes you become a better person. It shows you discipline and it shows you how far you can push your body.”At 5 foot 10 and 225 pounds, Lopez has proven he can push other bodies as well. Described by Ayden-Grifton head coach Paul Cornwell as “quick and relentless,” Lopez has averaged an estimated six tackles, one sack and two tackles for loss per game.He’s a big reason the Chargers (8-1, 4-0 Carolina 1A) are on track to return to the 1AA state championship game, which they lost last season to Swain County.Ayden-Grifton defensive line coach Jermaine Alston said Lopez’s build often fools offensive linemen into thinking he can be manhandled.“Sometimes the guy in front of him might not think he’s as powerful as he is or as fast as he is,” Alston said. “Sometimes they may not take it that he’s a really good player or a fast player. It helps him out a little bit, I think.”Lopez, who hopes to play college football next season, transferred to Ayden-Grifton from Raleigh Sanderson. He and his mother had moved to Raleigh from Pitt County for a couple of years before moving back.While in Raleigh, Lopez’s mom suggested that he try out for his middle school’s football team. In an innocuous moment that proved life-altering, Lopez, who had never liked sports, said, “All right, I guess.”It turned out to be a good fit for a kid who needed structure.“I started loving it because I could release all the stress and anger that I had and I could put it into football,” Lopez said. “And it kept me out of trouble and my grades got better, so I just kept going with it.”Lopez’s presence in the middle of the line has helped his teammates pile up tackles as well. Opponents often double team him, Cornwell said, which frees up other players to make plays.Between games, Lopez helps in other ways.“We haven’t blocked him in two years in practice,” Cornwell said. “It makes us better when we go against him in practice, because we’re not going to play against many people that are going to be any better than he is.”Lopez, who is also a standout on Ayden-Grifton’s wrestling team, looks back on his early life and realizes that a change was necessary. The fact that fighting gave way to football worked out for everybody.“I liked it,” Lopez said, “because I could actually hit somebody and not get in trouble for doing it.”
Posted on: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 21:20:06 +0000
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