HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL : Ross Mobilizing Defenses : Royal: Safety might not own a car but he is the driving force in battle for championship.

Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne sends Christmas cards.

Stanford coaches call during halftime of the Cardinal’s games.

Coaches travel from Notre Dame, Miami, and Oklahoma to watch game films.

It seems that everybody wants a piece of Tim Ross, a safety for the Royal High football team who has 3 1/2 large bags full of letters expressing interest from colleges throughout the country. Despite Ross’ pleas for mercy, his phone rings at least three times a night with recruiters drooling on the other end like Pavlov’s dogs.

Yet despite that traffic jam of attention, Ross, who is possibly the finest athlete in his school’s history, must ask teammates for a ride home after practice.

“You do what you have to do for your teammates,” said Matt Tomaszewski, who then breaks into a grin. “But there are times when he’s hungry, so we stop at McDonald’s and he says, ‘By the way, I don’t have any money.’ ”

Ross remains amiable despite difficult circumstances that began five years ago when his parents divorced and he moved from Fallon, Nev., to Modesto with his father Tom. He has not spoken to his mother since.

He and his father moved to Simi Valley in the middle of Tim’s freshman year and, a year later, his father moved nearly 250 miles away to Apple Valley.

Since then, Tim has lived in Simi Valley with legal guardians while his father commutes to Royal games. Tom Ross works as a construction project manager and sometimes struggles to provide alimony for his ex-wife, as well as support for daughter Elizabeth, 12, and sons Eric, 22, and Tim, 17.

“Sometimes it’s tough making ends come together,” Tom Ross said. “But when I think about what it’s for, it’s more than worth it.”

That’s because Tim Ross tackled adversity and has become one of the most highly recruited football players in the nation. He was among Sporting News magazine’s top 100 players in the country and is Super Prep magazine’s third-best prospect in the Far West.

Ross’ determination will result in a scholarship to a Division I school, an education that his father could not otherwise provide.

“Most kids would have bailed, but not Tim,” said Don Reyes, Royal’s defensive coordinator.

Instead, Ross has maintained a 3.33 grade-point average and easily scored better than the required 700 on the SAT.

He is the two-time champion of both the Marmonte League and Ventura County in the triple jump (45 feet, three inches) and high jump (6-7). He added a 22-1 long jump to that list last season and will play varsity basketball this winter. “He’s a tremendous athlete who happens to play football,” Royal football Coach Gene Uebelhardt said.

And his performance has helped propel Royal (7-1-1 overall, 4-1-1 in league play) into its biggest game ever, against Westlake tonight at Moorpark College. A Royal victory, combined with a Thousand Oaks loss, would clinch the Highlanders’ first Marmonte League championship and set a record for wins in a season. A loss, however, could eliminate Royal from a Southern Section Division II playoff berth.

Westlake’s high-powered offense averages 37.7 points a game, but Royal’s stingy defense has recorded four shutouts and allows only 8.1 points a game--largely because of Ross.

Ross lines up mostly at free safety, where he has earned all-league honors the past two seasons. But he plays as many as six positions during a game, moving to linebacker and even defensive end, and he delivers teeth-jarring blows from each.

“I just feel I can get to the play no matter where it goes,” Ross said. “And I just try to do anything I can, whatever it takes.”

At 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, Ross hits as hard as a recession. His blows have caused a school-record 16 fumbles through nine games and he has intercepted five passes.

“He’s our eraser,” Uebelhardt says. “He’s your last line of defense back there, so he had better be your best.”

When Uebelhardt and Reyes began coaching at Royal in 1988 after serving as Cal Lutheran assistants for several years, they were immediately impressed with Ross, who was a 6-2, 175-pound sophomore.

“We watched him play in a basketball game, and he was a man among boys,” Reyes said. “I knew he was going to make a helluva football player.”

But Ross almost never played varsity football at Royal. Tom Ross’ work beckoned him to Apple Valley, one of the few moves that Tim did not want to tackle.

“It was gut-wrenching not to have my son with me,” Tom said. “But I thought Tim’s future was more important than my feelings.”

Tom Ross left Tim in the care of legal guardians Frank and Mary Warren, who teach and coach track at Sinaloa Junior High in Simi Valley--the school that Tim attended after his move from Modesto.

“We did not invite him to stay because of his athletic ability, but because he is a very nice young man,” Mary Warren said. “He is here so he can finish school.”

Tim spends his holidays with his father and brother in Apple Valley.

“Even though my dad is not around, the situation has been really good for me,” he said. “They support me, and love me, and I love them back.”

Mary Warren says she and her husband, who have one daughter, treat Tim as their own.

“I don’t want to sound like we’re taking the place of his parents, because our relationship is a little different,” she said. “But we’re very close and we really care. He’s a neat young man who we’ve had the privilege of watching grow and mature.”

Tom Ross said the emptiness in his stomach has been filled by the Warrens’ care. “They deserve a great deal of credit because they opened their home and heart to him,” he said. “They have been extremely instrumental in Tim’s achievements.”

They also have to put up with the antics of Ross and his teammates, whose late-night, get-togethers can become playful shouting matches at 3 a.m.

But things are looking up for Ross, who is gaining ownership of his father’s pickup truck next week. Now Ross must get a driver’s license and hope his part-time job at a sporting goods store can pay for insurance and gas.

“But he drives as aggressive as he plays football, so look out,” Tom Ross said.