Making a quick leap to varsity

When a football coach from a top program decides to promote a 15-year-old sophomore in his first year of tackle football, it should set off bells that a special talent has been discovered.

That was the message sent by Coach Ed Croson of Lake Balboa Birmingham when he moved receiver De’Von Flournoy from the freshman-sophomore team to the varsity three weeks into the season.

All the 5-foot-11 Flournoy has done is average 31.8 yards a reception. Half of his 10 catches at the varsity level have gone for touchdowns.

“I think he can be as good as anybody we’ve had at the position, and we have guys in the Pac-10,” Croson said.

Flournoy didn’t play football as a freshman because his interests focused on modeling and playing basketball.

When he went to see the football team working out, he was a little intimidated.

“I saw them all in pads and I was, ‘Look, they’re all bigger than me.’ I didn’t think I could compete,” he said.

At lunchtime, he’d play touch football on a grass field at Birmingham, and everyone wanted him on their team.

“I was the man,” he said.

All-City running back Milton Knox stopped to watch and asked, “Who are you?”

“He said I should come out,” Flournoy said.

Flournoy joined Birmingham for a contact camp last summer and had to learn where to place his pads.

“I had put my butt pad into my hip pad and my hip pad into my butt pad ... and all my friends were laughing,” he said.

Flournoy would have been given a chance to make the varsity over the summer, but come August, when training camp started, he left for a two-week family reunion.

“I didn’t know there was training camp,” he said. “I’m a rookie.”

After he scored three touchdowns for the freshman-sophomore team in the second game of the season against Long Beach Poly, Croson decided to make his move.

Flournoy’s presence on the varsity has helped standout receiver Willie Chandler become more effective and has provided a second big-play target for quarterback James Beloff.

“It forces people to play the full field,” Croson said. “And for our offense to function, we need to spread it out.”

Birmingham, which is 7-3 overall and 5-0 in league, could be seeded No. 1 in the City’s Championship division when the playoff draw is decided at the seeding meeting today.

The Patriots have greatly improved after surviving a brutal nonleague schedule that included losses to Long Beach Poly, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and Encino Crespi -- all Times top-25 teams.

As for Flournoy, he’s still learning how to run routs and read defenses.

His greatest asset is an ability to go up for a pass and grab it away from a defender -- with a vertical leap of more than 35 inches, he can pull off a windmill dunk in basketball, which demonstrates strength, hand-eye coordination and athleticism.

Croson still kids Flournoy about his modeling. He has appeared in print ads, catalogs and commercials. His family moved to the area from Oakland because his 8-year-old brother is an actor who appears on the TV series “All of Us.”

Flournoy said he has put modeling on the “back burner” for football, but that doesn’t mean he has forgotten style points.

“I always try to look good on the field with my bicep bands,” he said.

Flournoy is in the early stages of learning how to play football, but all signs point to him having found a sport that’s a perfect fit.

Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com