SPRINGDALE — Edwin Espinoza and the rest of the Springdale starting offensive line take full advantage of the all-you-can-eat cuisine at OK China Buffet in Fayetteville on a regular basis.
If they aren’t filling their plates with Chinese food, the group might catch a movie or hang out at a park together.
“Just the O-line,” Espinoza said.
It’s a tight-knit bond Espinoza relishes having with the players he lines up next to each Friday night. Part of the reason the connection is special is that it wasn’t always there for the quiet right guard.
“Last year I never even talked to the O-line,” Espinoza said. “I just did whatever coach said. … We weren’t really talkative to each other. We didn’t hang out that much. Maybe two guys or three. But not the whole line.”
The dynamic changed this year, coinciding with Espinoza stepping into a leadership role.
He was always the youngest starter on the line his sophomore and junior years. But this season he is the lone senior starter responsible for mentoring four junior first-year starters.
“It’s been pretty challenging,” Espinoza said. “Helping the young guys get better on the field and everything. Being a leader on the O-line, that’s the first time ever being a leader.”
But he has embraced being a mentor to the younger players, even if he isn’t the loudest player on the team.
“He’s not a very vocal guy,” offensive line coach Trey Lavalle said. “But he’s been in it three years now. He understands the design of the plays and where they’re going. And he can communicate that to the guys. He really understands that aspect of it, where some of those juniors in their first year into it are still struggling with the whole concept and why we’re trying to do it.
“It does make it easier.”
Espinoza was in the same position the four new starters are in this fall. He was just a sophomore when injuries forced him into action in week four against crosstown rival Springdale Har-Ber.
He had to step in and play center despite having practiced and played at guard to that point. And he also had to line up across from Har-Ber mega recruit Josh Frazier, no easy task while playing on the biggest stage of his life.
“That was obviously a rude awakening to the 7A-West for him,” Patrick said. “He blocked OK, but we had 14 bad snaps that night. … It’s one of the things that I think still drives him today. And he never had a game like that again.”
Espinoza continued to start at center through his junior season before moving back to his natural guard position this year. The change coupled with the 6-foot-2, 290-pounder’s natural progression has made him a college prospect receiving interest from Arkansas Tech and Harding.
“If he signs somewhere, he’ll be a kid that plays,” Patrick said. “Because he’s just now truly getting strong. And he’s still not where he wants to be, but he will be one day.”
Espinoza is also a member of Springdale’s International Baccalaureate program and has good enough grades that attending Ivy League schools Princeton and Yale could be another option.
“Me and my parents, we’ve been talking about that a lot,” Espinoza said.
Both schools have a football program. And each campus is less than a mile away from the nearest Chinese restaurant.