High School Football Player of the Week: Jesus Ramirez raised grades and game at Ocean View

Ocean View High linebacker Jesus Ramirez set three forward-looking goals for himself after last season came to an end.

The first was to record at least 150 tackles this year as a senior, the second was to be named a first-team All-Pac 4 League performer at his position, and the third was to win a CIF Southern Section Division 11 championship.

But there was a difficult five-month span earlier this year when Ramirez was convinced he would never get a chance to achieve those ambitions and didn’t know if he would ever play football for the Seahawks again.

He was to blame.

Ramirez wasn’t taking care of his responsibilities as a student, both in the classroom and around campus. As a consequence, he was removed from the team in January because of those actions.

“I was honestly heartbroken and speechless,” said Ramirez, describing his feelings the day coach Luis Nuñez dismissed him from the team. “I didn’t know what to think because I was so ready for this season. I was being a goofball in class, not paying attention and messing around.”

Nuñez, in his seventh season in charge of Ocean View, knew that taking football away from Ramirez would hurt him in the short-term, but the punishment would serve as a growth opportunity for one of his best defensive players.

“I think that really opened up his eyes to see that he needed football,” Nuñez said. “He would come back and apologize, and tell us how much football means to him. I think that helped him to realize that football can be taken away and he’s not taking it for granted.”

Coach Luis Nuñez has a chance to lead Ocean View High to its first 5-0 start on Friday, when the Seahawks play at Dana Hills.

(Kevin Chang / Staff Photographer)

To earn his way back onto the team, Ramirez moved himself to the front of the classroom. He paid attention, completed and turned in his homework on time, and even placed himself in an after-school tutoring program to help raise his grades.

The results couldn’t have been better as Ramirez showed steady progress with his schoolwork and an improved attitude around campus, which paved the way for him to strap on his pads and helmet, and take back his starting spot at middle linebacker in May when spring practice began.

“I realized that I needed to mature more,” Ramirez said. “I wanted to improve as a person and as a player from last season and take my game higher.”

Fast-forward to now and Ramirez has established himself as the Seahawks’ most effective defensive player through the team’s 4-0 start.

The 5-foot-10, 180-pound Ramirez has a team-leading 24 teeth-rattling hits, including 10 total tackles in a 35-7 nonleague win over visiting Estancia on Sept. 14. The tackles, eight solo, were vital for Ocean View as two-time All-Golden West League linebacker Alex Nieves was slowed due to a right hamstring injury.

Nuñez said that while Ramirez’s production has been important for Ocean View’s on-field success, the most encouraging part of his turnaround has been the impact he’s had on his teammates.

“He’s shown some growth this year and we hope it continues because he’s playing big for us,” Nuñez said. “There have been instances on the field where last year he would have hit a kid out of bounds, gotten a personal-foul penalty, and now he’s not. He’s now the guy on the field telling our defense to stop talking.

“He’s taken that leadership role compared to last year where he was the guy talking and we had to calm him down,” Nuñez continued. “I told him we need to keep growing and not take a step backwards.”

If Ramirez keeps growing, the defense keeps clamping down, and the Seahawks keep winning, they have a chance to make school history Friday at Dana Hills (2-3) with a 5-0 start, a mark Nuñez said no other Ocean View football team has ever accomplished.

Ramirez, seeing and analyzing the game with fresh eyes and a rejuvenated passion for the game, said he believes this year’s team has what it takes to etch its name into the school record book, but still needs to see how it will respond to adversity.

“We have so many weapons on offense and defense and our coaches did a good job preparing us in the offseason to put us in the position we’re in right now,” Ramirez said. “I want to see how we’re going to respond when the games get more intense. We haven’t played anybody that has given us a lot of pressure yet, so I don’t think we have played to our full potential.”

If anyone on the Ocean View football team knows pressure, and how to respond to it, it’s Ramirez. Instead of folding in the face of personal adversity, and possibly losing the game he loves, he dug deep inside to inspire himself and his teammates.

That influence is manifesting into wins on the field, but more importantly, victories off of it.

Jesus Ramirez

Born: Aug. 2, 2000

Hometown: Huntington Beach

Height: 5 feet 10

Weight: 175 pounds

Sport: Football

Year: Senior

Coach: Luis Nuñez

Favorite food: Chicken Alfredo pasta

Favorite movie: “The Blind Side”

Favorite athletic moment: Making an important goal-line stop on fourth down against Estancia last week.

Week in review: Ramirez had 10 tackles, eight solo, in a 35-7 nonleague win over Estancia on Sept. 14, helping the Seahawks improve to 4-0 on the season.

DEVIN UGLAND is a contributor to Times Community News. Follow him on Twitter: @Devin_Ugland