Ramstein running back Kydan Echard stiff-arms Stuttgart senior Zach Poe during the Division I DODEA European championship game on Nov. 1, 2024, at Ramstein High School on Ramstein Air Base, Germany. (Matt Wagner/Stars and Stripes)

This fall, the Ramstein football team grounded opponents into submission by game’s end.

To do so, the Royals turned to their bruisers in the trenches and Kydan Echard. And the senior running back and the linemen delivered the entire season.

“If our team comes in and immediately hits them, they’re going to be scared to (hit back),” Echard said. “So, just repetitively doing that shows that you’re not here just to play – you’re here to win and you’re here to not let them hang into the game.”

That mentality led to a perfect 7-0 season and the program’s first European championship since 2018.

Echard embodied the “hammer” mentality of the team. And because of that, he has been named Stars and Stripes’ European football Athlete of the Year.

Echard said the team recognized it was going to be a special year during the offseason, when players were willing to put in work in the weight room and via conditioning drills.

“The team was very excited since this is something that hasn’t happened since 2018,” Echard said. “It was definitely a very memorable for all the seniors who started off here during the COVID year. It was just very memorable for everyone.”

It certainly was memorable for the son of Bret and Ashley Echard.

The 5-foot-10, 175-pound tailback amassed 1,065 yards and 13 touchdowns on 119 carries over six games. The team earned another win to forfeit. He produced 252 yards on the ground in Ramstein’s opening game at Stuttgart, and he followed that with a 306-yard, four-touchdown performance against crosstown rival Kaiserslautern.

Echard capped off his season with offensive and defensive MVP awards for the championship game, a 40-20 victory over the Panthers on Nov. 1 at home. In the game, Echard totaled 218 yards and two touchdowns rushing, and he added another score on special teams with a 24-yard punt return.

Echard credited his offensive linemen, such as Koen Harris and William Farley, for his success. Once he saw the holes they created, Echard ran over or bounced off defenders left and right as he picked up chunks of yards.

“After reading (my linemen), that might require a few cutbacks or so,” Echard said. “I go forward lean facing down, so my forward momentum will bring me to wherever I need to go.”

That’s not to overlook his contributions from his linebacker spot.

In the title game, Echard picked off a screen pass early in the game and produced multiple tackles for losses.

“It’s not like you have one assignment. You have an arrangement of assignments that you had to complete,” Echard said. “So, on defense, I was just making sure that I was completing my assignment and then getting to the ball every single play.”

The Royals dominated Division I, outscoring opponents 241-68. Their closest contests came against the Panthers, winning by 15 and 20 points. No other game was closer than four possessions.

Heading into the playoffs, Ramstein entered as the heavy favorite, but Echard said the team didn’t rest on its laurels. Players recalled falling in the semifinal round the previous season when they were the higher seed and used that as motivation.

Echard pointed to team weight-lifting sessions at 6:30 a.m. every Monday and Wednesday as a time the team kept itself from being too comfortable.

“I even said it myself: Complacency is our biggest enemy. If we think that where we’re at right now is good enough, that will defeat us and be our underlining tragic flaw,” Echard said. “Ultimately, all the other teams, we put a bounty on top of our heads blowing out everybody.”

The Royals avoided those pitfalls, although Stuttgart gave them a run for their money in the first half of the title game, when the teams were separated by just one point.

When the final whistle blew, Echard had won his third European title in 2024. He claimed the 150-pound individual crown at the DODEA European wrestling championships, while Ramstein took the top spot in the team competition.

Wrestling is his sport, and he has applied to the Air Force Academy with hopes of joining the university’s wrestling program.

Still, the European football title will stick with him for a long time.

“Comparing the team titles, the football one was definitely more exciting because you’re actually collaborating with an entire team, all 11 players are on the field at the same time,” Echard said. “You know that you and your brothers are getting that title at the same time compared to wrestling where everyone’s separate but still under one team.”