On High Schools: These freshmen football players are making a stir at the varsity level

Jared Greenfield is 5 feet 10, 150 pounds and a free safety for Crenshaw High. When he takes his helmet off, he looks every bit like the 14-year-old freshman he is.

But when the helmet goes on and the whistle blows, age doesn’t matter. There was a pass over the middle in his first high school game. The receiver went up and Greenfield launched his body toward him.

“I tried to knock the ball out,” he said. “I couldn’t get the pick, so I had to hit him.”

Boom — there was a collision and a pass that fell incomplete. A freshman was serving notice he could play varsity football.

There’s a handful of freshmen making an impact at the varsity level. Greenfield is one of them. His older brother, Aaron, was a standout baseball player at Long Beach Millikan who’s now a freshman at North Carolina. Aaron once played quarterback. The brothers are separated by three years; this is the first time they’ve been apart.

“Every game I just call him and tell him how I did and send him video,” Jared said.

Jared was a little nervous before his first high school football game last month “until that first series when I got that little hit,” he said. “That’s when my nervousness went away and I started playing football.”

Freshman Luca Diamont plays quarterback for Venice on Sept. 1. The starter has passed for 611 yards and eight touchdowns in three games.

(Michael Yanow / For The Times)

It takes someone mature mentally and physically to play varsity football as a freshman.

Venice is pulling off the difficult task of starting a freshman at quarterback with Luca Diamont, the younger brother of former All-City quarterback Alexander Diamont.

Coach Angelo Gasca was skeptical about going with a freshman. But then he remembered how Westlake Village Oaks Christian went with Matt Corral as a freshman two years ago.

“When I saw a ninth-grader able to do things like he did, if they can do that, why can’t we?” Gasca said.

Diamont, 6-1, 165 pounds, has passed for 611 yards and eight touchdowns in three games.

“He’s still a work in progress but improves almost every play,” Gasca said. “What’s really good about him is he’s a very calm, instinctive player. As he continues to develop, he’ll be one of the best players around.”

Diamont said he’s been playing football since kindergarten, and being around his brother helped prepare him to compete against older players.

“The speed of the game has come easier for me,” he said.

Another freshman quarterback contributing is Bryce Young of Los Angeles Cathedral. He picked up a college scholarship offer before even enrolling at Cathedral.

Coach Kevin Pearson has a four-year starter in Andrew Tovar but decided it was important to get Young playing time. He has passed for 326 yards and seven touchdowns for the 3-0 Phantoms.

Studio City Harvard-Westlake has gone with 5-11 freshman Jameson Wang at quarterback. He has passed for 749 yards and eight touchdowns.

Westlake Village Westlake has one of the best athletes in Ventura County in 14-year-old receiver Carson Kuhl. He’s also one of the top lacrosse players in California, with a scholarship offer from Johns Hopkins. He scored touchdowns at the junior varsity and varsity levels when Westlake was in Texas two weeks ago.

Receiver Bryce Farrell of Oaks Christian is catching passes from USC-bound Corral. Linebacker Justin Houston of Gardena Serra is averaging eight tackles a game. His brother, John, plays for USC.

So sit back and watch the freshmen mature.

As Crenshaw Coach Robert Garrett said of Greenfield, “He’s going to be a special player.”

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

Twitter: @latsondheimer