Mustang adds gray to uniform

Once a Mustang, always a Mustang, but next season Andres Lopez, who recently graduated from Malta High School, will be donning blue, white, and gray for the Dickinson State University Blue Hawks Football team in North Dakota.

Lopez was a multiple sport athlete in Malta, thriving in football, wrestling, and track. He most recently played in the 73rd Annual Montana East-West Shrine Game in Butte on Saturday, July 20. Lopez was a running back for the East team that defeated the West 28-22.

“It was a really good game,” Lopez said. “The East and West teams were both good and we both just wanted that W (win), so we went for it. We outworked them and I think we wanted it more.”

Though Lopez had dreams of reaching All-Star games after his senior year, he had no idea of the impact that the Shrine game would have on him.

“It meant a lot to me because I did not know a lot about it,” Lopez said. “I went there and I met a couple of kids that were in the hospital and it just changed everything for me. I really looked forward to being able to play for them and it was an honor for me.”

Lopez had several friends and family members in attendance, including his older sister Jessica Aparicio and older brother Antonio that drove from Dickinson, over ten hours away. His family from Malta came to Butte including his mother Cristina Lopez, father Jose Lopez, sister Carole Lopez and her boyfriend Travis Rhoads. He was also surprised by a special friend, his girlfriend Sidney Meeks, an MHS student.

“She surprised me that day,” Lopez said. “I didn’t know she was coming to Butte until the parade. I saw her in the crowd and I was like, wow! I was speechless.”

Lopez went on to mention that he wanted to outdo his older brother Antonio, who played in the Shrine game in 2016 as a starting linebacker.

“I always want to one up him,” Andres said with a laugh. “It was really good, really fun, and I liked it a lot.”

The last Mustang to be in the East-West Shrine game prior to Lopez was Trace Simonson, who played in game last year.

Andres will be leaving for college early this August. He shared his thoughts about the move that will get him close to his older sister Jessica Aparicio and older brother Antonio, who both live in Dickinson.

“I’m excited for it but it’s also kind of scary having to step up with all of the new responsibilities that I am going to have,” Lopez said.

Lopez shared what we would take with him to Dickinson from being a Mustang.

“My work ethic,” Lopez said. “In Malta, they push you as hard as they can most of the time. They want you to be the best athlete that you can be. They care about you. Not just the team, but you as an individual. And that’s one of the things that I loved most about Malta, is that they care about everybody.”