LOGANSPORT, La. (KSLA) – “I never expected me to be in pads, and a helmet at a very young age, 13, playing varsity. I never expected that.”
Coaches weren’t either. Just days before Logansport High School’s date with Lakeview, on the football field, Alex ‘Ice’ Espinosa, a travel soccer and baseball player, decided to make a career change.
“We asked him last Tuesday to just come out and kick the football,” says Logansport Head Football Coach, Kevin Magee. “He says, ‘Coach, I’ve never kicked a football.’” “He put it on a tee and split the uprights. I said, ‘Son, you can start on Friday if you want to.’”
However, ‘Ice’ had cold feet.
“I’ve been looking forward to playing football. But, I was a little scared my whole life, getting hit and stuff,” says Espinosa.
Tigers Head Football Coach, Kevin Magee, had to warm Alex and his parents to the idea of adding more to the 8th grader’s plate.
“They were cool with it,” says Magee. “So, he comes to practice, Thursday, which is the first day he’s ever kicked. Never had shoulder pads on. Never had a helmet. All we were really going to do is ask him to kickoff. So, I thought about it all night, Thursday and Friday morning. Like, he was 7-for-8 [in practice]. I’m just going to throw him out there and see what happens.”
In Logansport’s 63-0 victory over Lakeview, Espinosa made 7-of-8 field goal attempts and each of his nine extra points.
“I was scared,” says Espinosa. “I thought I was going to make a few mistakes. My dad told me, ‘Don’t be afraid. Just go up there and do your thing.’”
Ice runs in Espinosa’s veins – as it did with his father, Humberto, who Kevin Magee coached at Logansport, 20 years ago.
“I told him one day, dad, I’m going to play football and make you proud. So, that’s what I’m doing right now. Come in here. Play football and make him proud.”
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